While most pharmacies have safety checks, processes, and procedures in place to minimize medication mistakes from happening, pharmacy errors still occur; however, the public often doesn’t hear about these mistakes unless serious harm or death occurs and a lawsuit is filed against a pharmacy. Why is this?
Did you know that the state of Florida does not require pharmacists to report pharmacy errors? Florida, like most states, does not require this reporting, which is disturbing because more medication errors are occurring than the numbers indicate.
Why Don't Pharmacists Report Mistakes?
Often times, pharmacists do not report their errors because they fear the following things:
- Discipline by the State Pharmacy Board
- License suspension
- Fines
- Job loss
Dr. Carsten Evans, a former pharmacist turned Florida professor at Nova Southeastern University and head of one of the nation’s two remediation programs designed to help pharmacists understand their errors, indicates that pharmacy errors are severely under-reported, but pharmacy mistakes are surprisingly common. The stress pharmacists are under and the rush to fill as many prescriptions as possible in order to meet quotas are two of the main causes of pharmacy mistakes in Florida and nationwide.
While many states do not require pharmacy errors to be reported, pharmacists should self-report in order to help officials discover how and why drug errors occur so that they can ultimately be prevented. One of the few groups nationwide that allows pharmacists to safely self-report errors is the Institute for Safe Medication Practices; this way, pharmacists don’t have to fear consequences.
If you have been injured by a pharmacist’s mistake, call an experienced pharmacist malpractice attorney at Kennedy Hodges, L.L.P. at 888-526-7616 for a free consultation and request a FREE copy of our report, How to Make Pharmacies Pay for Injuries Caused by Medication Errors.