I'm so angry about this

**forestdale** · 03-07-2005, 03:20 PM

Let me say first that I rarely get angry about anything.  I got over anger years ago.

BUT ...

My DH showed me his new medication bottles last night, he got them renewed at the pharmacy yesterday.  Many of you know that he had a small stroke last year, one year ago yesterday, actually.  He's been on Warfarin ever since and for a long time he had to have frequent blood tests, then the doctor would phone him and tell him how much warfarin to take that week.  It ranged from 1mg to 7 mg.

He has two bottles of Warfarin, a 5mg bottle and a 1 mg bottle, and he uses tablets from one bottle or the other according to how many milligrams he has to take.  Remember, warfarin thins the blood, if you take too much you could bleed to death internally. The new label on both bottles reads exactly this: "Take SEVEN tablets mgs daily. *Do not take aspirin unless advised by your doctor."  And yes, the SEVEN is typed like that.  So if he took the drugs as advised on the bottles he would take 42mgs instead of 7mgs, clearly a huge overdose.

I'll be going to the pharmacy this morning.

**daddys3chicks** · 03-07-2005, 03:21 PM

OMG! It is good you checked the labels!

**SewCrafty** · 03-07-2005, 03:29 PM

OH man, anger is beyond what I would feel Rhonda! My hubby doesn't read anything! Very scary, I hope you give them a piece of your mind!

**Darlene** · 03-07-2005, 03:30 PM

That is unacceptable. Wow, heads will be rolling over that. I'll probably be able to hear you talking to them from here Rhonda.

**Mommy2five** · 03-07-2005, 04:01 PM

OH My Goodness!

Yes, heads should roll over that!

**LBD301** · 03-07-2005, 05:30 PM

That happened to me with an Rx for Zyrtec that the Dr. gave me when my son was 6 mos. old. He was supposed to get 1/4 tsp. once a day, but the pharmacy typed 1/4 tsp. 4x a day!! I knew it was wrong and called them about it. The Rx was called in, so they only had what the tech wrote down. I called the Dr. to verify, then called them back and gave them a piece of my mind. Also, they put the label on the box, not the bottle, which was pretty annoying...who keeps the box?!

**PrairieRose** · 03-07-2005, 06:00 PM

I always think that we have to stay on top of our healthcare or fall victim to such things. Good for you Rhonda. I hope you talked to the man in charge of the pharmacy.

**baronmom** · 03-07-2005, 07:40 PM

It is very good that you were aware of what the correct dosage should be. I can honestly say that I have forgotten how much to take medications, but now, I will be more aware and write them down when the doctor tells me. What a terrible thing it would have been if he had taken the pills as typed on the bottle.

**forestdale** · 03-07-2005, 07:48 PM

OK, I'm back. I also did my supermarket shopping so I saw it as a total hideous outing.

The female pharmacist was at the counter, I asked to speak to Tim, the owner/pharmacist. She asked if there was anything she could do to help. I said: "Yes, get Tim."

I was very calm, although I really don't like confrontations.

Tim came out and I produced "the evidence", LOL, the photocopied prescription form from the doctor with the correct dose on it and the repeat authorisation forms that were produced in the pharmacy with the incorrect doses. The forms are printed at the same time as the labels and are the same as the label on the pill bottles. I had the bottles in my purse, just in case I needed to do a Perry Mason and produce them.

I said to him: "take a look at these and see if you can see anything wrong." He looked, gasped, and said "did he take them?!!" He was visibily upset. I said: "no, he didn't take them. We aren't THAT stupid." He kept checking the forms and he said: "I did it. It's totally my fault. I'm so sorry."

I told him I wanted him to talk to his assistant too because she dispensed the pills the previous time and the mistake was made then too. I found the previous pill bottle just before I went over there.

I'd already told DH that if his attitude wasn't totally professional and contrite that I would take it further. I won't have to do that. I think he learnt an important lesson.

**Sara Noel** · 03-07-2005, 10:37 PM

You handled things really well. I'm not sure I could have. I'm so glad your hubby wasn't overmedicated or hurt.

**BlessedMommy** · 03-07-2005, 10:49 PM

Way to go, Rhonda! You handled that all very well!

**Julia Kimber** · 03-08-2005, 06:45 AM

Thank goodness you spotted that Rhonda! Good to hear you had a go at the pharmacist, I don't think he'll make that mistake again!!

Julia

**jlxian** · 03-08-2005, 09:48 AM

Rhonda, I think I would find another pharmacy. Especially since they've made mistakes before. Good grief!

**Kimberlina** · 03-09-2005, 11:38 AM

Wow- this is an excellent example of how important it is for people to be their own health care advocates. LUCKILY, coumadin is one of those medications that people get to know very well when they are taking it- how their PT results affect their dosage and whatnot, and they know not to just take some until they are told to by the doc, otherwise this could have been a very bad situation, indeed. This is one of the reasons it is so very important to talk to the doc about the script they are writing and really understand what it is, what you are taking it for, how much and how often, etc. Especially since 1)pharmacist are human and will make a mistake from time to time, no matter how good they are and 2)doctors write atrociously- trust me, I have to read it all day every day and it isn't always easy!

I'm glad the pharmacist seemed to realize the gravity of his error.

**Michele Annette** · 03-10-2005, 11:28 AM

Rhonda, I think you handled the situation very well and I would have been freaked out! I am also glad that you had the sense to double check everything beforehand.