Check your prescriptions

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Kimmom
Kimmom Member Posts: 32
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer

I came in the house from walmart pharmacy about two hours ago to pick up my stomach meds When I got in the house I took a pill, made dinner, did a few chores and as I went to put the pills in the meds box I glanced at the pill bottle. It wasn't my prescription, I took someone elses meds! I called up my Drs office and they said I would be fine, just watch for bleeding (I bleed on similar meds).

Don't be a Kimmom, check your pills!

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  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 6,503
    edited January 2011

    How scary....with our Rx plan, we have to do mail order...

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  • Shrek4
    Shrek4 Member Posts: 1,822
    edited January 2011

    I got that too with CVS. One time they gave me diabetic medication instead of my beta-blocker. I went back in and raised Hell. The Pharmacy manager offered me a $30 gift card to shop around until my prescription was filled properly.

    And to think that I have switched to CVS from Walgreens because of all the mess-ups they used to do. One time, when I went to pick up my beta-blocker, they had ready for me both the brand name AND the generic!

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  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 17,186
    edited January 2011
    OMG that's awful. So far I haven't had a problem with my local Walgreens. Very scary! That's also an issue with breaking HIPAA law if someone elses name is on the bottle.
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  • LittleFlower
    LittleFlower Member Posts: 405
    edited January 2011

    Wow!  Thanks for posting Kimmom.  Reminder to everyone that we always need to be vigilant, and pay attention to EVERYTHING... how tiring :)

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  • clariceak
    clariceak Member Posts: 752
    edited January 2011

    Check your chemo bags.  I was almost given the wrong chemo.  I was hooked up and ready and then a frantic call came from the pharmacist saying to hold everything.

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  • LRM216
    LRM216 Member Posts: 2,115
    edited January 2011

    thanks for the alert!  That's really frightening.  Thank God you are ok.

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  • Latte
    Latte Member Posts: 1,072
    edited January 2011

    i filled an antibiotic prescription last week - came home and realized there were only 10 tablets instead of 20. had to go back to the pharmacy and luckily they believed me and gave me the extra ones...

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  • Bugs
    Bugs Member Posts: 1,719
    edited January 2011

    Very scary!  It happens, people are human..but wow.  I think of all the elderly people out there that trust they are getting the correct meds.

    And Clarice?  HOLY CRAP...the wrong chemo?

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  • lrr4993
    lrr4993 Member Posts: 937
    edited January 2011

    You would be surprised how often this occurs.  Pharmacists are humans and any time a human is involved human error is possible.  I always make a note of what I was prescribed to compare it to what I get (name, dosage, and frequency), check my bottles before leaving the pharmacy, and compare what the info on the bottle says to the pills (my pharm has instructions on the bottle, ie, this is a pink pill with xxx on the side).  it has only happened to me once - and happened to be during chemo when my mom went to pick up the px.  She is not as careful about it as me and did not notice it was the wrong px until I pointed out.  LOL.  It is rare that these mistakes ever result in any harm, but I have seen near-fatal situations due to pharmacy misfills.  Scary indeed.

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  • clariceak
    clariceak Member Posts: 752
    edited January 2011

    I was almost given taxotere instead of taxol. The chemo nurse was supposed to double check before hooking up the bag. I had a nice benadryl buzz going right after it happened, so my reaction was muted. This past year and a half in the medical system has taught me so much. I never realized how many ways the system can break down.

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited January 2011

    I've been very vigilant since my DD received the wrong dosage of sedation medication before a surgery.  Thank goodness the doctor had verbally told me what to give her before the procedure because the pharmacy (Walgreens) had given instructions to give my DD triple the dosage.  I raised hell, they apologized, etc.....  I stopped using Walgreens for years, but they opened a new store near my home and its "easy".

    Another thing to watch for.  My DH had an ER trip for a cut on his hand, when he got to the pharmacy to fill the prescription of antibiotics they realized that the ER gave him someone else's prescription.  An error by the ER, he had to go back to exchange prescriptions.  Wow!!!!

    It's better to be safe and get the names of the medications being prescribed, the dosages and amounts given and then match that up to what is filled at the pharmacy.  Mistakes happen.

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