Published October 26, 2022
An outpatient pharmacy received a hardcopy, typed prescription for the oral contraceptive Syeda (drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol). However, the pharmacy technician accidentally selected a different oral contraceptive, Slynd (drospirenone), when entering the prescription into the pharmacy computer system. The verifying pharmacist did not catch the error and Slynd was dispensed to the patient.
After the patient picked up the prescription, she noticed that the packaging looked different from what she had received previously at another pharmacy. She returned to the dispensing pharmacy wondering if she had received the correct medicine. The pharmacy investigated the situation and confirmed that the wrong product had been dispensed. Thankfully, the patient did not take any of the incorrect medicine.
Here’s what you can do: When picking up medicine from the pharmacy, make sure your information is correct on the label (your name, address, date of birth). Be sure to open the bag. Make sure the medicine is what you expect. If it looks different or the name of the medicine is not what you expect, ask the pharmacist to double check that the medicine is correct. If you did not get to check the medicine before leaving the pharmacy, be sure to check it when you get home and before you take it. Do not hesitate to contact the pharmacy if you have any questions.
