Pharmacies across the country use automated prescription-filling machines to help dispense medications more efficiently. While the majority of pharmacies and patients see the benefits of this technology, others have not had the same experience. In fact, some patients have firsthand experience that the machines might dispense the wrong medication. Of course, machines do not give out wrong drugs without negligent pharmacy workers being involved.
Some examples of pharmacy errors linked to automated dispensing machines include:
- Many patients received pill bottles containing tablets of tamoxifen, a breast cancer drug, in addition to the fluoride tablets they were supposed to receive. It appears that children’s chewable fluoride tablets look similar in shape and color to the tamoxifen tablets and the pills were inappropriately commingled. However, if inspected closely, the fluoride tablets are stamped with “SCI” on one side and “1009” on the other, while tamoxifen pills are stamped with the letter “M” on one side and “274” on the other.
- Three patients received commingled drugs at a Cherry Hill, New Jersey pharmacy. They were supposed to receive metroprolol, a high blood pressure drug; however, their pill bottles also contained risperidone, a drug used to treat schizophrenia.
- One patient received the wrong medication at a Budd Lake pharmacy. He was supposed to receive metformin, a diabetes drug, but he received pravastatin, a cholesterol drug.
- One patient received two different strengths of one drug. At a Rahway pharmacy, a patient’s pill container included the correct blood pressure drug Coreg, at 20 milligrams per tablet, and it also contained the wrong dosage at 80 milligrams per tablet.
- A Scotch Plains pharmacy dispensed about 30 prescriptions from automated filling machines in which the pills were commingled. Losartan, a blood pressure drug, was accidentally commingled with atorvastatin, a cholesterol drug.
These examples of patients receiving the wrong medication are not uncommon. If you have been given the wrong medicine, you may have legal rights to damages. Call a pharmacy error attorney at Kennedy Hodges, L.L.P. at 888-526-7616 to discuss your specific situation during a free consultation and receive a FREE copy of our report, How to Make Pharmacies Pay for Injuries Caused by Medication Errors.