Why is it important for pharmacy staff to ask for your birthdate, address, or other identification every time you pick up a filled prescription? It is a way to help make sure that medicines are handed to the right person.
Read Safety ArticleA woman went to pick up her son's prescription for Metadate CD (methylphenidate, extended release), which is used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The pharmacist had a hard time reading the prescription. He thought the doctor had prescribed methadone. This medicine is used for drug withdrawal, and also to lessen cancer pain.
Read Safety ArticleMost people realize human error can happen, including when getting a prescription filled at the pharmacy. Although pharmacists do their best, mistakes sometimes happen. Thanks to safer medicine labels and technologies like barcode scanning, mistakes of the past are rapidly declining. The few pharmacy errors that do slip by usually do not cause serious or permanent harm. Still, that’s little consolation to a consumer who is harmed or could have been harmed if a more serious error had happened.
Read Safety ArticleA 67-year-old man went to an emergency department because he was dizzy and had blurred vision. The doctor found he also had low blood pressure and a fast heart rate. The doctor admitted him to the hospital and prescribed medicines to raise his blood pressure and lower his heart rate.
Read Safety ArticleCatapres-TTS (transdermal therapeutic system) patches contain the medicine clonidine, which is used to treat high blood pressure. The patch is applied to the skin where it slowly releases the medicine into the body over a specific period of time.
Read Safety ArticleMost prescriptions can be transferred between pharmacies in the United States. You may need to do this for several reasons.
Read Safety ArticleGood catch! A mother picking up a prescription for her son was supposed to receive methylphenidate for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Instead she was given a cardiac drug intended for another patient. The mother noticed the error because the pharmacist mentioned the medicine was for “chest pains.” It turned out that the two patients had the same name. Before leaving the pharmacy with your prescription, always make sure to verify your name and another identifier, such as your date of birth or address. It’s also important for pharmacists to provide drug information when you pick up your prescriptions. After all, that’s how this error was prevented.
Read Safety ArticleOne of the most frequent errors in the pharmacy is giving a correctly filled prescription medicine to the wrong customer. Recently, we received another report of this type of error. A parent of a 16-year-old teen picked up what was supposed to be an antibiotic to treat his acne, minocycline. The next month, when looking at the prescription label to call in a refill of the medicine, the teen’s mother realized the prescription medicine was for a different person, and the medicine dispensed was not minocycline. Instead, Xarelto (rivaroxaban), a medicine used to prevent blood clots after surgery or in people at risk of having a stroke, was listed on the label. Fortunately, the teen was not injured. However, the risk of bleeding from taking Xarelto in error for a month is certainly significant.
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