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The Reality of Patients Receiving Wrong Medications from Pharmacists

David W. Hodges
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3/22/2013
David W. Hodges
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We trust our doctors and our pharmacies to give us the correct medication for our needs; however, sometimes mistakes behind the pharmacy counter occur that lead to a patient’s injuries or death. Recently, a young father of two children almost died after receiving and taking the wrong drugs instead of the medication his doctor prescribed.

Richard Whipps, 38, was prescribed drugs for a chest infection. He had the prescriptions filled at Lloyd’s Pharmacy, but he unknowingly received the wrong medication instead of the medication for his chest infection. The pharmacist gave him anti-diabetic drugs in place of steroids. He had been given 30 Gliclazide pills instead of 30 Prednisolone tablets, and the instructions told him to take six steroid tablets.

Mr. Whipps took the drugs inside the packet because the printed label on the box was correct and described the medication his doctor ordered—steroids for asthma. He had to be rushed to the hospital because he felt unwell. He continued taking the medication and had to be rushed to the hospital a second time. The mistake was only found when his wife started looking at the medication he was taking. She found that the printed label on the box was correct but that the medication inside the box was named Gliclazide. It was only then that they realized that Mr. Whipps was taking an anti-diabetic drug.

Much to his dismay, the wrong pills caused him to spend the night in the hospital connected to an IV glucose drip to correct his sugar levels. Doctors allegedly told Mr. Whipps that he could have gone into a diabetic coma and died if his wife hadn’t rushed him to the hospital the second time.

Mr. Whipps said, “[t]he medication had been checked twice by members of staff at the pharmacy but they still got it completely wrong.” Llyod’s Pharmacy offered an apology for giving Mr. Whipps the incorrect prescription medication.

Although this mix-up occurred in England, medication mistakes occur all too often in the U.S. Victims of pharmacy errors should speak with a qualified pharmacy malpractice attorney at Kennedy Hodges, L.L.P. Call 888-526-7616 for a free case consultation in order to find out more about your rights.



Category: Pharmacy Malpractice

Labels: pharmacy errors prescription drug attorneys prescription drug error Texas prescription error wrong prescription

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