Pregnant Colorado Woman Mistakenly Given Abortion Pill

[happygirl]

I'm not sure if this has been posted or not. They apolgized and are going to pay her medical expense, they will be paying alot more then that if that poor lady loses her unborn baby

FORT LUPTON, Colo. - A Colorado woman who is six weeks pregnant says a pharmacist at a grocery store mistakenly gave her an abortion drug instead of an antibiotic and now she fears she will lose her unborn child.

Mareena Silva tells Denver's KMGH-TV that the pharmacist at the Safeway in Fort Lupton gave her methotrexate last week. The drug, intended for another woman, is used in chemotherapy and to terminate early-stage pregnancies.

Silva says she took a pill and checked the bottle after becoming sick. She was rushed to the hospital.

Doctors say Silva could miscarry or have a baby with birth defects.

A woman at Silva's apartment Tuesday said she's not talking to the media. Safeway says it has apologized to Silva and will pay medical expenses resulting from the mistake
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/08/p...-given-abortion-pill/?a_dgi=aolshare_facebook

 

[ols386]

I heard about this on the news. How awful. That's a pretty huge mistake to make.

 

[Scurvy]

I saw that on the news yesterday. It's a horrible situation, and I feel terrible for the woman. However, this is a good reminder for everyone to check your prescription bottles before you start taking any new medication. If she had read the label on the bottle before taking the pill, this would not have happened since the bottle was labeled correctly for the other patient. Someone else's name was on the bottle and the medication listed was the one that was in the bottle. The pharmacy made a horrible mistake by giving her that bottle and they should be penalized for it, but if the woman had read the label, she wouldn't be in this situation right now.

 

[DizBelle]

I agree it is terrible but the woman took the pill without verifying what she was taking. Especially if I were pregnant, I would be checking all medication that I put in my mouth. She bears some of the responsiblity for this.

 

[NikitaZee]

I saw that on the news yesterday. It's a horrible situation, and I feel terrible for the woman. However, this is a good reminder for everyone to check your prescription bottles before you start taking any new medication. If she had read the label on the bottle before taking the pill, this would not have happened since the bottle was labeled correctly for the other patient. Someone else's name was on the bottle and the medication listed was the one that was in the bottle. The pharmacy made a horrible mistake by giving her that bottle and they should be penalized for it, but if the woman had read the label, she wouldn't be in this situation right now.

I agree. How horrible for her. I always, always check my prescriptions before I take them. There have been times when I've been sick in bed and my husband brings me my medicine - I have always assumed he checks, too. Think I'll double check that tonight, though.

 

[Kellydelly]

I agree it is terrible but the woman took the pill without verifying what she was taking. Especially if I were pregnant, I would be checking all medication that I put in my mouth. She bears some of the responsiblity for this.

I agree. Who takes a prescription pill without looking at the packaging?

 

[jedijohn]

Yes, it was a mistake that they gave her another persons medicine but the lady needs to take some responsibility for reading the bottle before taking it. Some people just want to take life on in autopilot mode, like in Wall-E, and expect everyone else to accommodate them without mistake. Sorry lady, we are human and make mistakes; please take some responsibility to double check a controlled substance before ingesting!

 

[happygirl]

I agree. Who takes a prescription pill without looking at the packaging?

I do I don't know anyone who checks the package.

 

[DizBelle]

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the requirements for being a pharmacy tech:

Education and training. There are no standard training requirements for pharmacy technicians, but some States require a high school diploma or its equivalent.

So, the person behind the counter handing over your prescription to you may not have a high school education.

It should be noted that the prescription was filled properly. The person behind the counter picked up a prescription for another person with the same last name and similar first name and gave it to this pregnant woman.

 

[sparklynails23]

I'm pretty sure the girl had been sick, so maybe she just took one really quick on the way home from the store. She had read it on the way home (must have been right after) and called her doctor asking what to do. He said to induce vomiting. Even if she didn't check the prescription, it's still 100% the store's fault. My sister once was given beta blockers when she had an anti-biotic prescription.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

She definitely should have checked the meds before taking. I always do that.

This med is used widely for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis, more so I believe than the indications that were listed in that story and those pills are very low dose, so I think it is highly unlikely too much damage was done, as long as she only took one dose.

Suzanne

 

[ohlas]

the guilt of giving and taking one small wrong pill

 

[NikitaZee]

I do I don't know anyone who checks the package.

This is surprising to me. I read the label - and the printed insert that the pharmacy sends home. How about your kids medications? You really should check, mistakes do happen.

 

[DizBelle]

This is surprising to me. I read the label - and the printed insert that the pharmacy sends home. How about your kids medications? You really should check, mistakes do happen.

In addition, Not only do I read the label, I educate myself on what the pills should look like and the markings on them and verify that the pill in the bottle is actually the pill I should be taking.

This are medications that can have a profound effect. Why would you do any different? It's MY life and MY body and I am responsible for anything I put in my mouth.

 

[Magpie]

I was in the pharmacy recently and while I was waiting for my prescription a woman came in asking for a refund. Apparently she'd been given someone else's prescription the night before.

The pharmacist on duty (a really young guy) was incredibly upset. He rounded up the other staff and demanded to know who'd been on the night before and he kept saying, "That poor girl is SICK and she didn't get her meds!" He was actually near tears when I paid for my prescription.

It was nice to see that he cared, but it was a little scary to think of someone getting the wrong prescription the night before!

I think it must happen a lot.

 

[Anne MN]

picked up an Rx for DD everything was labeled correctly-
went to put new pills with current(space issue- lots of Rx bottles) and noticed that they were different shape- very slight!
WORNG med! her Rx was for 10mg- she was given 100mg- can we say massive OD! they were the same color, and almost the same shape, just an extra "corner" if I hadn't caught that...

 

[happygirl]

This is surprising to me. I read the label - and the printed insert that the pharmacy sends home. How about your kids medications? You really should check, mistakes do happen.

I will be from now on

 

[Nancy]

I always check the bottle before I take meds. I verify the drug and the amount.

My husband goes a step further and actually reads the information they send along with it...he checks out everything.

I do think the pharmacy is at fault here they need to have more checks in place. Mine checks my information before they hand me the package..I have to confirm name and mailing address.

 

[Heidict]

How stupid of her to actually trust the pharmacy. She should have known that people are to stupid to do their jobs correctly. Yeah, it's her fault for not double checking the professionals.

I really hope that she is able to have a healthy pregnancy and baby. I can't imagine the the fear that she is experiencing right now. I would be devastated if something like that had happened to me.

 

[Klismania]

I agree with the majority. My opinion is that the fault is 50/50. The pharmacy gave her someone else's bottle - someone who had a similar name - so they were wrong and made a mistake. But the woman should have known her prescription and verified it against the bottle.

Bottom line: we are each responsible for what we voluntarily put into our mouths, so this can't be all pushed off on the pharmacy. If it had been someone giving her a shot, then I'd lean toward the caregiver being 100% responsible.