Rite Aid Complaint - The pharmacist gave me the wrong medication-Could have killed me! - Prescription

Posted by drugdoc121 on 2010-04-15:

"Be safe! Pharmacists can and do make mistakes!" Thanks for spreading the word! FYI- All Pharmacists practicing in the United States of America have to taken at least two exams to practice AND they are written in English.
P.S. Ever stop to think that the handwriting of your doctor may have played a sorry role in this?

Posted by i_am_canadian on 2010-04-15:

I know everyone's human and mistakes happen but God, these are the kinds of mistakes you just can't afford to make. In Ontario, one single error can cost the pharmacist their license. I'm not sure what the laws and regulations are in the state of New Hampshire and I would never want to see anyone lost their livelihood, but you may want to pursue further recourse. The next error this pharmacist makes could be with an elderly or confused patient and wind up killing them.

Posted by i_am_canadian on 2010-04-15:

As for the sloppy handwriting, I think if there was ever a shred of doubt as to the name of the drug or the dosage, the pharmacist should be on the phone with the physician promptly to verify it. And don't fill the prescription until they do.

Posted by drugdoc121 on 2010-04-15:

I am canadian - I agree with you on the handwriting. Let me ask you this. Ever been to a retail pharmacy and see how 3/4 of the customers act when the pharmacist tell them that exact thing? I have.

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-04-15:

One mistake can kill a person, they need to train the pharmacists better.

Posted by jktshff1 on 2010-04-15:

There is NO EXCUSE for a pharmacist, regardless of country or business, for making a mistake.

Posted by i_am_canadian on 2010-04-15:

When a person walks into a pharmacy with a prescription, they are not simply a customer purchasing a blender, they are a PATIENT. Meaning that the pharmacist has an equal responsiblity for their health and well being to that of their physician. So let them yell, let them stomp their feet, whatever. I don't care if it took two hours, I wouldn't let them leave until I knew they had exactly what they needed.

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-04-15:

yeah it's always good to have a pharmacist who is on top of things.


i'd recommend, if you can, try using a pharmacist who's attached to the same medical center your doctor works at. sometimes that way, it's easier to get prescription errors fixed, especially when the pharmacist knows the doctor by name.

and... getting one that REALLY knows the medications. there are some out there who actually know medications better than the doctors do. and those are the ones you want filling your 'scripts cos they really look out for you.


i had one who did that for me. i was getting 2 scripts filled (in my teens) - one for allergies and one for being sick. the pharmacist made a SERIOUS point of "do not take these together!" and if he hadn't said that... i probably would have.

a few years later the allergy medication lost its FDA approval, because when you take it with that specific antibiotic you can induce a heart attack.


i had to do a survey once of the medical center
i mentioned him by name as being awesome because of that. :)

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-04-15:

There are so many protection mechanisms in place to assist the pharmacist and to reduce errors, but the sad fact is that that these mistakes happen due to human error. There are scanners to check the NDC's on the bottles, vs. what was processed in the computer but if the pharmacist reads the original prescription wrong, then all bets are off. Now that e-prescribing is becoming more common hopefully even those errors will go down.

I am VERY glad that you are so aware of your medications, what they are suppose to look like and that you caught the mistake before you ingested the medication. Hopefully others will read this review and will become more vigelent about educating themselves about their medications as you have about yours. Excellent review!

Posted by old fart on 2010-04-15:

My grandson is now a doctor of pharmacy.... I double check EVERYTHING with him!

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-04-15:

That is great Old Fart.

People should NEVER hesitate to question their pharmacist. When I was still in the retail pharmacy we made MANY calls per day to the doctors offices' because we could not read their writing. There was one doctor who's writing was so bad that we called on EVERY prescription that he wrote.

One important note to make is when you are in line at the pharmacy and your wait is over 5 minutes, it may be YOUR prescription that they are verifying. Remember, being a pharmacist is not as simple as just counting pills and putting them in a bottle. Old Fart, ask your grandson. You may have already heard the pharmacy stories.

Posted by jktshff1 on 2010-04-15:

drugdoc...it is the responsibility of the pharmacist to insure that they understand the instructions of the Doctor. If they have any doubt at all, they should concact the Doctor. How hard is that?

Posted by old fart on 2010-04-15:

Pro... it's amazing what I've heard about some of the places...
No names have ever been mentioned but I have a pretty good idea where NOT to get my drugs...

Posted by drugdoc121 on 2010-04-15:

I never said it was hard to contact the doctor. You said there is no excuse for a pharmacist....for making a mistake. Are doctors allowed? Or are they also expected to be non-human? Anyone else not allowed to make a mistake? It is one thing to consciously or maliciously make an error but a mistake sometimes, is, an unintentional error.

Posted by FlShopper on 2010-04-15:

Great advice to always double check a prescription when picking it up.

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-04-16:

I worked in the medical field for 22 years and some doctors write horridly. We had to call to get x-rays orders verified many times, and sometimes got hollered at for bothering these doctors and it sucked having to wait for a call back. I am of the belief that doctors should use block lettering, no cursive, on their scripts and in charts so that all involved can clearly see what has been written there, or that all drugs should be assigned a number so that a name never has to be written. The two drugs the OP mentioned are close in name. I can see how it happened, but it shouldn't. People are human, mistakes get made-they could be prevented by a little more time and care from the doctor, the pharmacist, and the patient. PS My brother is a pharmacist and these are his ideas.

Posted by goduke on 2010-04-16:

I think that we can all accept that the places that dispense pharma (be it Rite Aid, Walgreens, Kroger, Mom & Pop, etc.) have multiple layers of check in place to ensure that Rx's are handled properly and filled properly. But I think we have to take a reality check and recognize that no system is 100% accurate -- doesn't make it right or acceptable, but it makes it real. The savvy consumer, therefore, is going to check their Rx when they get. 9,999 may be right, but if you are the 1 out of 10K that might be wrong (I made that ratio up, don't jump all over it), you want to catch it and bring it to the attention of the pharmacy.

Posted by jktshff1 on 2010-04-16:

+10 goduke

Posted by jktshff1 on 2010-04-16:

ddoc, I never said mistakes were not allowed, it's gonna happen, but in the business of people's health and welfare, be it a DR, pharmacist, fireman, police officer, nurse etc..all highly trained positions, there is no excuse, gonna happen, yea, but no excuse.

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-04-16:

are doctors allowed to make mistakes you ask?

well you know I just saw a news clip online about a hospital that performed a C-section on a woman who wasn't pregnant.

i've read news stories where a doctor amputates the wrong foot.

the problem is when these people make mistakes, the patients pay for it.

Posted by MRM on 2010-04-16:

There was an article in the local news recently that the doctor was fired for aborting one of the wrong twin fetuses. (he aborted the healthy fetus instead of the defected fetus)

Posted by Disaster Worker on 2010-04-16:

The combination of trazadone and Cymbalta probably wouldn't cause you to have seizures. Trazadone used to be used for depression, but is now used as a sleep-aid. What most likely would have happened is for you to become overly sleepy and MIGHT lower your respirations. It's highly unlikely a one-and-one doseage would do much else since trazadone is a fairly benign medication. That being said, WOW. This is the second time in a week we've heard on this site about a pharmacy dispensing the wrong med. Always check your script before leaving and always question anything that is amiss!

Posted by minaminamina on 2010-08-10:

I guarantee you 99 percent of the error is due to the doctor's bad hand writing. The doctor write tramadol like trazodone. They write nifedipine like nisoldipine. They write lantus like lancet. The list goes on...
Any one who works inside the pharmacy or having to deal with doctor's order will tell you..THERE IS NO WAY IN THE WORLD YOU CAN READ THEM!
In a pharmacy that fills 500 prescriptions by one pharmacist and 2 techs. Out of the 500 prescriptions you can only read clearly 80 prescriptions. The rest the pharmacist relied on her educated guess and making at least 50 phone calls to verify with doctors the drug name, missing drug dosage or how many times you want the patient to take a day. Doctor's license number missing, How many tablets do you want the patient to get?... The pharmacist spend at least 2 hours a day on the phone with doctors to verified hand writings and missing information in order for the pharmacist to fill the prescription. That is the reason why a prescription take so long to fill. Also the patient's insurance company took forever to process and pay which further delay fill time. When you tell the patient I can't read your doctor's hand written. The patient acts dumb and looked shock.
I feel sorry for all the pharmacist. DON'T HOWEVER GET INTO THE PHARMACIST PROFESSIONAL. IT'S A REALLY BAD WORKING ENVIRONMENT.

Posted by pazyfe on 2010-10-07:

I can relate I had the same experience at a Rite Aid in NYC: I just had a lumpectomy and was given Tylenol with Codeine for pain, I am not a pill popper never liked meds, but because this was serious surgery not your everyday superficial procedure, I thought pain meds were needed. Thank God that He has my back, He is always in the mix, and I am the daughter of THE MOST HIGH GOD, I read the bottle info just to inform myself.

Low and behold, this was someone else's prescription, medication for blood pressure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I took it upon myself to call the person whose name appeared on the bottle and make sure she did not have my medication, she was oh so thankful, and it turned out she could not pick up her meds because they did not have a trace of the prescription that was "called in." So Rite Aid you screwed up, in some areas there is ZERO ZERO ZERO room for error, please remember this!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by 13YEARSINRETAIL on 2011-05-08:

I once had a script brought in late at night by a dad for his daughter. The doctor wrote so badly, I could not read it. When I asked the dad what is was to be used for, he got irritated and said his wife was the one that took her to the doctor. I asked if we could call the mother and ask her. He then called me a name I can not repeat and wanted the script back. If the script cannot be read, the pharmacist must take steps to clarify it. We don't want to inconvenience the patient but it is better than dispensing the wrong drug. But some patients are just plain rude because we want to be sure, but if they get the wrong drug, they say we should have clarified it.