Pregnant Colorado Woman Mistakenly Given Abortion Pill

[The Mystery Machine]

Good reminder to check meds that is for sure.

Usually I am diligent however I have been sloppy lately.

Terrible situation.

 

[Colleen27]

I don't think it should matter if she is a smart cookie or the village idiot. Having her accept partial blame is allowing any pharmacy to take a stance that it is the customer's responsibility to make sure that the Pharmacy dispenses correctly. It is 100% the pharmacy's duty to make sure it doesn't kill or harm patients with the medications they dispense.

Pharmacists are 100% responsible for the operation of their pharmacy. Always and as it should be.

Should she have read her prescription? Perhaps. But that doesn't take away any of the blame from the pharmacy.

I don't see it as one or the other. Human beings are imperfect and make mistakes. Multiple layers of vigilance is the best way to ensure those mistakes are caught in a timely fashion, and in this case there were two people who made mistakes. It doesn't detract from one person's responsibility to point out that the other failed to act with reasonable caution as well.

The pharmacist is 100% responsible for the error of handing out the wrong medication, and the company is doing the right thing by paying for the consequences of their employee's error.

The woman is 100% responsible for the error of taking a medication without reading the bottle or instructions. As someone else said, even if you have complete and total faith in the pharmacy, isn't reading the bottle essential to knowing when/how to take the medication?

I don't pick up my photo orders without verifying that they are actually mine. I can't imagine picking up something as vital and potentially dangerous as medication without at least taking the time to see that the product I'm signing for has my name on the label!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I don't see it as one or the other. Human beings are imperfect and make mistakes. Multiple layers of vigilance is the best way to ensure those mistakes are caught in a timely fashion, and in this case there were two people who made mistakes. It doesn't detract from one person's responsibility to point out that the other failed to act with reasonable caution as well.

The pharmacist is 100% responsible for the error of handing out the wrong medication, and the company is doing the right thing by paying for the consequences of their employee's error.

The woman is 100% responsible for the error of taking a medication without reading the bottle or instructions. As someone else said, even if you have complete and total faith in the pharmacy, isn't reading the bottle essential to knowing when/how to take the medication?

I don't pick up my photo orders without verifying that they are actually mine. I can't imagine picking up something as vital and potentially dangerous as medication without at least taking the time to see that the product I'm signing for has my name on the label!

A wrong photo order won't kill you.

There are many pharmaceutical errors that are not as obvious.

Blaming the victim is tantamount to saying she asked for it. That is the vibe I'm getting. It doesn't resonate well at all.

There is no 200% at fault here.

 

[Jen414]

Mistakes happen all too often. When I was in high school, I had 4 wisdom teeth and 2 other teeth taken out. I was prescribed percocets for pain and pencillin. I think I was supposed to take 2 painkillers every 4 hours and 1 penicillin every 8 hours, or something like that. I was in horrific pain and so my mom called the oral surgeon and ok'ed me taking more percocets. I ended up taking 3 days worth of percocets in 1 day. The oral surgeon then refilled that prescription. When my mom got them home and opened them up, they looked just like the pencillins. Turned out, on the original prescriptions, they put the labels on the wrong bottles, so I ended up taking way too may penicillins and hardly any percocets. The consequences weren't that bad---I'm now allergic to penicillin, but if it had been some other drugs, it could have have fatal consequences.

I hope everything works out for this poor woman.

 

[merryweather20]

Not only did this happen to me it happened to me with Methotrexate... For years!

My bottles were labelled with my name, my doctor and a partial address. If my name is cut-off it looks like a mens, name but its long so its not unusual in the least. Also my last name is not particularly common.

Say :

Name: Stephanovia Merryweather
Address: 7 Anystreet
P.0. 22
Fontview, Ontario
M2M 2M2
Doctor: Dr. Owen

My Prescription said:

Merryweather, Stephan
Fontview
M2M 2M2
Dr. Owen

The prescription was for a Stephan that lived on Fontview (a road), who had the same Dr as me, and whose Postal Code was the same, because our mail is both directed to the same post office. He had also moved to the area as a pensioner, but he had worked for the same national company my Dad did, meaning our co-pays were the same, but we had never heard of him.

In my case we were both picking up Methotrexate, but the pharmacy should have at least noticed he had two concurrent prescriptions for Methotrexate running. When we were both taking pills I have no doubt I got the wrong ones occasionaly and since they put my prescription on his account I never got a bottle that said my full first name.

I didn't notice a thing until they started handing me pills after I switched to injectable Methotrexate. But my bottles still said Stephan on them. I didn't realize the problem until I went in to get syringes, and the pharmacist typed in my whole name. He insisted on calling my Dr. to make sure he was giving me the correct syringes. He was pretty perplexed when I insisted that these were the same syringes, for the same medication that they had been filling for me at this pharmacy for years, and there was nothing on the computer.

 

[bumbershoot]

Should she have read her prescription? Perhaps. But that doesn't take away any of the blame from the pharmacy.

And the pharmacy being wrong wouldn't take away any of the blame that I'd be putting on MYSELF, if I did what this woman did. Especially while pregnant.

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

That's just scary!



Last week I got disturbingly sick, took myself to urgent care that Monday evening. My husband had just gone on a work trip cross country. I could barely breathe at all, and by the time I got to Walgreens I was a shaking mess b/c I'd had my very first nebulizer treatment with albuterol, I was still a mess from crying (thinking I was going to die with only my son there), and I was dealing with a tired and freaked out 6 year old kidlet, but I still spent twenty minute going through each drug I was now going to take, with the pharmacist. Took notes, too.

Each time it was time to take something (I took notes on that, too) I made SURE I was looking at the right bottle, box, or inhaler, I made sure I was supposed to take it, and I made sure how to take it properly.

And I'm not even pregnant! If I were, I would have been calling DH in NYC for each dose, talking it through with him, to make sure I was taking the right things at the right time.

I take drugs SERIOUSLY. They have life and death consequences, and as someone else said, I'm the one who is 100% responsible for what I am putting in my mouth; the buck stops here.

The pharmacy messed up, but she should never have put that pill in her mouth. Vigilance!

 

[Scurvy]

A wrong photo order won't kill you.

There are many pharmaceutical errors that are not as obvious.

Blaming the victim is tantamount to saying she asked for it. That is the vibe I'm getting. It doesn't resonate well at all.

There is no 200% at fault here.

Regardling the bolded, I could be wrong but I think that was Colleen27's point - she double checks something as simple as her photos, so she can't understand someone not bothering to double check something as serious and potentially dangerous as their medications.

No, she definitely didn't ask for this. She didn't deserve it. The pharmacy is 100% responsible for their error, and I hope that she doesn't suffer any ill effects because of their error. There's no 200% responsibility for their error; she is not at fault at all for what they did.

However, she is 100% responsible for her own error. It's a completely separate error from the one the pharmacist made. She should have looked at the label on her prescription bottle to be sure it was actually hers. It would have taken 2 seconds and would have prevented this situation. If nothing else, hopefully this experience will serve as a reminder to her and to everyone else of just how important that is.

There were two errors made here, not just one. The pharmacy is to blame for giving her the wrong bottle, and nothing the woman did after that point makes their error any less important. They were completely and totally wrong to have been so careless. The woman is not responsible for their carelessness, but she is responsible for her own. She is to blame for not reading the label or enclosed paperwork, especially since as others have pointed out it's how you know the instructions for taking the meds. Even if it was her own medication, she could still have had a problem because she didn't read the label and took it on an empty stomach when it's supposed to be taken with food, or mixed it with something it shouldn't be mixed with. While I think it's a good idea to research your meds online so you know what they should look like, I don't think the failure to do that is particularly irresponsible. The failure to at least read the label to be sure your name is on it and to check the instructions for taking the meds is irresponsible.

 

[DebbieB]

I don't think it was done with criminal intent, it was a BAD mistake. No crime was committed.

I feel terrible for her, but agree with the 50/50.

I always double check my meds. Mostly, I am nosy, but I read all of the provided information.

Actually, two days ago I was picking up a refill. I have a common last name, and apparently there is another Megs Lastname at my pharmacy, because the tech was halfway to me with the script before he re-asked me my DOB. Yep, not my pills.

It would not be criminal negligence, it would be a civil lawsuit.

 

[dispor]

Regardling the bolded, I could be wrong but I think that was Colleen27's point - she double checks something as simple as her photos, so she can't understand someone not bothering to double check something as serious and potentially dangerous as their medications.

No, she definitely didn't ask for this. She didn't deserve it. The pharmacy is 100% responsible for their error, and I hope that she doesn't suffer any ill effects because of their error. There's no 200% responsibility for their error; she is not at fault at all for what they did.

However, she is 100% responsible for her own error. It's a completely separate error from the one the pharmacist made. She should have looked at the label on her prescription bottle to be sure it was actually hers. It would have taken 2 seconds and would have prevented this situation. If nothing else, hopefully this experience will serve as a reminder to her and to everyone else of just how important that is.

There were two errors made here, not just one. The pharmacy is to blame for giving her the wrong bottle, and nothing the woman did after that point makes their error any less important. They were completely and totally wrong to have been so careless. The woman is not responsible for their carelessness, but she is responsible for her own. She is to blame for not reading the label or enclosed paperwork, especially since as others have pointed out it's how you know the instructions for taking the meds. Even if it was her own medication, she could still have had a problem because she didn't read the label and took it on an empty stomach when it's supposed to be taken with food, or mixed it with something it shouldn't be mixed with. While I think it's a good idea to research your meds online so you know what they should look like, I don't think the failure to do that is particularly irresponsible. The failure to at least read the label to be sure your name is on it and to check the instructions for taking the meds is irresponsible.

For all we know, this woman may have had a very in-depth discussion with her doctor about how to take this medicine, and therefore didn't bother to read the label for instructions on how to take it.

Very scary situation, and I will definitely be checking my labels more carefully. I hope everything turns out okay with her pregnancy.

 

[cm8]

It would not be criminal negligence, it would be a civil lawsuit.

would that not change if her "fetus" dies due to such negligence.

I can not even imagine the horror that she is facing at this time. I pray that all will be as well as it can be for her at this time. I won't make any excuses for her or the pharmacy at this time. Seems like they were both too busy doing something other then what they should have been when this occurred. I have never taken anything w/o reading the bottle and verify all of my info. It is sad that this happened to her, but I hope that she now will take the time to look at her future prescribed meds

I could not live with her pain either way.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Regardling the bolded, I could be wrong but I think that was Colleen27's point - she double checks something as simple as her photos, so she can't understand someone not bothering to double check something as serious and potentially dangerous as their medications.

I understood--I just happen to disagree that the patient gets any blame. That is all.

I check my meds. But I am not a doctor and I Do not have a pharmaceutical degree--so back in the day when pill descriptions weren't included in the provided novel or on the label--it was anybody's guess what color or shape this pill or that pill should be.

And even now--some pills are quite similar. Some names are very similar.

If the pharmacy mixes things up on things that are blatantly different (mexotrexate sp? for amoxicillin for example)---I wouldn't trust them for medication names that are more similar in meaning.

What if the patient were illiterate?

One can look at photos and realize they did not take them.

If one cannot read the literature, they aren't going to know that their pill shouldn't be pink or purple, or multi-color let alone that it shouldn't be tetrahexapickaname.

I check my meds. So it isn't like I'm saying she shouldn't have checked. But the average patient isn't an MD or a pharmacist and some patients can't read at all.

 

[Scurvy]

For all we know, this woman may have had a very in-depth discussion with her doctor about how to take this medicine, and therefore didn't bother to read the label for instructions on how to take it.

True, that makes sense. Although I still think it's a good idea to double check the instructions. With the variations in people's health insurance, people don't always end up with the specific medications the doctor thought they would. I know occasionally there will be differences between name brand and generic medications - some generics tend to be harder on people's stomachs and it's more important to take them with food, for example. And some people can't take certain generics at all, and always need to be sure they haven't been given a generic since it's common practice for pharmacies to substitute them fairly regularly.

I understood--I just happen to disagree that the patient gets any blame. That is all.

I check my meds. But I am not a doctor and I Do not have a pharmaceutical degree--so back in the day when pill descriptions weren't included in the provided novel or on the label--it was anybody's guess what color or shape this pill or that pill should be.

And even now--some pills are quite similar. Some names are very similar.

If the pharmacy mixes things up on things that are blatantly different (mexotrexate sp? for amoxicillin for example)---I wouldn't trust them for medication names that are more similar in meaning.

What if the patient were illiterate?

One can look at photos and realize they did not take them.

If one cannot read the literature, they aren't going to know that their pill shouldn't be pink or purple, or multi-color let alone that it shouldn't be tetrahexapickaname.

I check my meds. So it isn't like I'm saying she shouldn't have checked. But the average patient isn't an MD or a pharmacist and some patients can't read at all.

I understand what you're saying and I don't entirely disagree, depending on the details of the case. But in this specific case, all the woman (who isn't illiterate) had to do was read the name on the bottle. Not the name of the medication, but her own name. She doesn't have to know anything about any medications. She just needed to be able to recognize her own name - and then she would have seen that it wasn't her name on the bottle, and she would have known that it wasn't her own medication. Then she wouldn't have taken it and she could have avoided all the rest of this horrible situation.

 

[Tuffcookie]

Wow, just wow! I can't believe those on here saying the blame is 50/50; that the patient should have read the label before taking.

To be honest I have not always read the labels on my Rxs.

I hope everything is alright with the baby. I can't imagine the stress that pregnant woman is going thru right now.

TC

 

[rie'smom]

The pharmacy is at fault. It is their duty to fill and dispense prescriptions properly. What is the patient is foreign or doesn't see well. I can tell you that if and when the case goes to court the fault will be found with the pharmacy and not the woman. It's a form of malpractice.

From Harvard Law:

A.Common Law Tradition

A court will almost always hold liable a pharmacist who makes an error in dispensing the prescription drug. Considered a mechanistic task, filling a prescription is given no latitude for error

 

[m&m's mom]

Thank you, Dr Chicagodisneyfan. Makes me feel terrific about the situation. I am still bleeding from my "spontaneous abortion". I had an "elective d & c" yesterday to remove my baby that died three weeks ago when I "spontaneously aborted" my child.

In the context of "abortion pill", as used in the highly charged abortion debate of today, it is a medication taken intentionally to terminate a pregnancy. In my case, my child died. The medication I would have taken would have caused my uterus to contract to expel the remains of my failed pregnancy. The medication, in this case, has NOTHING to do with initiating an abortion.

I would not have been taking "abortion medication".

I imagine you are not familiar with the emotional toll having a "spontaneous abortion" has on a family. I am not sure what you hoped to prove by pointing out whatever the technical term on my chart said. In fact, I did not have access to my chart because it contained the sonogram pictures of my lost baby.

It was, quite callous. Fortunately, I have a supportive family that isn't asking me how I am feeling after my "spontaneous abortion". They call it a miscarriage.

My dad's an MD and even he calls it a miscarriage. There's no need for medical terminology at a time like that, only kindness.

I have had 2 miscarriages and yes, they are spontaneous abortions. It's just the term that people associate with a judgment.
I did not find it offensive at all - I actually get upset when Dr's do not use medical terminology as it sounds like they are patronizing me by assuming I do not understand them. People are different.
BTW- Why do you say "I spontaneously aborted my child". You did not do that- your body did. It obviously was not something you "did" that caused the pregnancy to end.
That distinction was huge for me when I had 2 miscarriages, and 2 preemies ( 1 born at 1 pound)

 

[Colleen27]

A wrong photo order won't kill you.

There are many pharmaceutical errors that are not as obvious.

Blaming the victim is tantamount to saying she asked for it. That is the vibe I'm getting. It doesn't resonate well at all.

There is no 200% at fault here.

That's exactly my point - we take time to check things much less serious every day. There's no reason for not checking a medication when you pick it up.

I agree there are errors that aren't obvious. I've seen some first hand back when I was picking up scripts for my grandmother - dosage errors, inappropriate substitutions, potentially dangerous interactions that no one noticed until her home nurse had the bottles in hand. But this wasn't that sort of error; this was something easily caught.

I see it like this - Two drivers are involved in an auto accident. Driver A is 100% at fault for the accident, but Driver B wasn't wearing a seatbelt and is seriously injured. The accident is still totally Driver A's fault and if not for that Driver B could have gotten away with driving home unbuckled that day, but Driver B's lack of caution did contribute to the injury he sustained. That's not saying Driver B asked to get into an accident, and it isn't taking any of the blame away from Driver A. It is simply an acknowledgment that more than one thing had to go wrong to produce that specific outcome.

That's how this situation played out - the pharmacist is 100% responsible for the error in dispensing the medication, but the woman contributed to her own injury by not exercising reasonable caution on her end. If not for the pharmacist's error she could have gone on not reading her prescriptions forever, but that doesn't change the fact that, like wearing a seatbelt, reading one's pill bottles before taking a medication is a pretty basic precaution that should be a matter of habit.

 

[goofy!]

I understood--I just happen to disagree that the patient gets any blame. That is all.

I check my meds. But I am not a doctor and I Do not have a pharmaceutical degree--so back in the day when pill descriptions weren't included in the provided novel or on the label--it was anybody's guess what color or shape this pill or that pill should be.

And even now--some pills are quite similar. Some names are very similar.

If the pharmacy mixes things up on things that are blatantly different (mexotrexate sp? for amoxicillin for example)---I wouldn't trust them for medication names that are more similar in meaning.

What if the patient were illiterate?

One can look at photos and realize they did not take them.

If one cannot read the literature, they aren't going to know that their pill shouldn't be pink or purple, or multi-color let alone that it shouldn't be tetrahexapickaname.

I check my meds. So it isn't like I'm saying she shouldn't have checked. But the average patient isn't an MD or a pharmacist and some patients can't read at all.

Even most illiterate people can recognize their own name.

There is a difference in receiving a bottle with your name on it and the pharmacy putting the wrong pills in it vs. receiving a bottle of medication that does not have your name on it.

I wouldn't expect a customer to do research on every pill they receive to make sure it looks like what is prescribed, if it is in a bottle with their name on it and listed as the medication the doctor prescribed.

If Jane Doe received a bottle with Jane Doe on the label and amoxicillin listed on the label, she should expect that there is her prescription of amoxicillin in the bottle and not methotrexate. She should not have to know what amoxicillin looks like and should be able to trust that her prescription is her prescription.

However, I would expect a customer to do a cursory glance at a bottle before taking a pill and notice that the label said Helen Doe and Methotrexate on it, rather than her name,Jane Doe and her medication, Amoxicillin.

I agree that there are two mistakes here - a horrible one by the pharmacy and one by the person getting the pills.

 

[java]

I feel for that poor girl. It was a horrible error on the part of the pharmacy. Her last name was apparently the same as the other person and the first is very close which I guess contributed to the error.

However whenever I pick up my pills I have to verify my information, look over the prescription and sign saying it all looks ok. And if my pills look different that usual I call.

It's just very sad all around. And if anything does happen, I believe she would win a lawsuit hands down. And when I saw her interviewed she appeared very young. Like teenager young.

 

[luvmy3]

I feel for that poor girl. It was a horrible error on the part of the pharmacy. Her last name was apparently the same as the other person and the first is very close which I guess contributed to the error.

However whenever I pick up my pills I have to verify my information, look over the prescription and sign saying it all looks ok. And if my pills look different that usual I call.

It's just very sad all around. And if anything does happen, I believe she would win a lawsuit hands down. And when I saw her interviewed she appeared very young. Like teenager young.

Me too, and I'm surprised that doesn't happen in every Pharmacy.

 

[goofy!]

Me too, and I'm surprised that doesn't happen in every Pharmacy.

Sitting here watching the local morning news and they were updating the story.

Apparently this was supposed to happen, but did not. Safeway is admitting fault and is doing a full investigation of why it happened.

They had a doctor on and was explaining what Methotrexate can do to a 6 week old fetus. Since it is basically only cell dividing at this point in the pregnancy and methotrexate stops cell division, she could miscarry.

I cannot imagine what she is going through right now. Whether the pharmacy clerk should have asked her address, whether she should have theoretically read the bottle, it doesn't matter - she is living a nightmare right now.