Oregon Pharmacists refuse to participate in pharmacy error reporting.
In 2008, Oregon introduced a completely voluntary pharmacy error reporting system, not only for pharmacies, but for healthcare facilities and doctors. Each group among the medical chain of care participated in the program, thereby improving safety and care in their respective areas.
Pharmacists refused to participate. While the system seems to have been a great success for the rest of the healthcare chain in Oregon, it was a dismal failure in the area of pharmacy.
Retail Pharmacies Say their Safety Checks are “More than Adequate” Spokespersons from several chain pharmacies, such as BiMart and Rite-Aid say their safety checks are more than adequate, when properly followed by pharmacy staff. Really? Then why did these things happen just last year:
A pharmacy customer was pulled over by police for erratic driving after having been given a sedative instead of the prescription his doctor ordered.
A customer took the wrong pill for a whole week, believing that the pharmacy had given him his blood pressure medication.
These are only two of the errors catalogued by the Pharmacy Board. Since there is no requirement to report errors, many go undetected.
Why are Pharmacists Refusing the Reporting System? One reason is fear. Pharmacists fear being fined for their mistakes, or even losing their license to practice, even though the system is anonymous. Another reason is arrogance. Some pharmacists think that their own safety checks and balances are good enough and that an overall 3 percent error rate is acceptable. We’d be willing to bet that error rate wouldn’t be so acceptable if it were their loved one poisoned or injured by taking the wrong drug.
Kennedy Hodges, LLP helps individuals who have suffered serious injury due to prescription and pharmacy errors across the country, including distributing wrong medications, administering the wrong dosage, and failure to provide medication warnings and instructions.
