Check your prescriptions!

[lexustami]

Hello all,

I just caught an error that could have seriously jeopardized my 10 year old sons health.

I just refilled his RX through Walmart online. His Dr's office had just called in the renewal of his presciptions last week. I didn't notice that the name of his medication refill was slightly different than what he had been taking until after I hit the submit button.

WM has a cholesterol medication on file for him when it should be an allery pill.

LOVASTATIN 10mg= cholesterol pill
LORATADINE 10mg= allergy pill

I have to call both the DR. and the pharmacy in the morning.

If I had called or walked in to order the refill I may not have noticed it at all until it was too late.

Be careful and double check what your medication label says!

Take care,

Tami

 

[Southern28Chick]

When I was about 10 I got sick and my doctor gave my mom a prescription for an antibiotic (spelling). We filled the prescription and went home. I had taken that type of pill before and knew what it looked like but the pill my mom handed me was odd looking. I said "Mom these pills have a heart cut out of the middle". She freaked out. We went back to the pharmacy...the pills that they put into my bottle that was labeled as the antibiotic was in fact an antidepressant, not good for a 10 year old.

Not the same problem you had but I thought that I would share my story too. So even though the label was right, the pill wasn't.

 

[arlee453]

I like what WalGreens does (and I'm sure others do too..)

they put a sticker on the bottle with a description of what the pill should look like. So, if the label is correct AND the pill matches the description then that's pretty reassuring.

That especially helps when you get a lot of generics, which can look different from month to month depending on the manufacturer...

 

[Poison Ivy]

When my daughter was 2 she was sick with a cold and the doctor gave us a prescption to be filled. Went to Eckerds and when the girl at the counter took it she looked and ask my mom about the med and who it was for. My mom said her grand daughter and that she was 2 yrs old. They girl just kept say OMG, OMG and the main Pharmacist said what's the matter. She told him to read it and he said OMG. He called the doctor and told them the prescription they wrote out would have landed her in the hospital or worse. They had the amount she was to take listed 3 times the amount a adult would take. Thank heaven the Pharmacy Tech knew what she was doing. I changed Doctors after that and haven't had a problem since.

 

[chickbea]

Excellent advice! The nurse's mantra - remember to check for the 5 "R"s:

Right medication
Right person
Right dose
Right time
Right route

Happily you were right on top of things and your kid is fine.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

A few years ago I was prescribe an antibiotic that I have taken several times before and I was perfectly fine. However, this time I took it and had a really bad allergic reaction that almost landed me in the hopsital. We told the doctor and supposedly the medication was put on a list they have for each patient.

However, two times after that they gave me the SAME medication with a slightly different name! Luckily my mom caught it and called them right back. The allergic reaction was not fun! Unfortunately, where I live we are very limited with the doctors we can see, so although I do have a main doctor, the doctor for emergency visits is really the only one that close!

We have been really careful about the medications we take after those incidents. Even the pharmacy has that medication on a list for me.

 

[mom'sfolly]

Twice I've been in the hospital, each time with a wrist band with an allergy alert, and with the allergy alert in my chart. Both times I asked what they were about to give me, and both times it was the medicine I was allergic to. I'm sure IV penicillin would have done wonderful things considering the rash I broke out in when I was taking it orally.

I wonder how often really bad things happen because the patient wasn't able to ask or pay attention.

 

[valmom]

You really do have to be aware of everything about your medications now, especially with all the different generic that are out now. Everything looks different. I applaud the RX stores that are now putting a description on the bottle of the pill that should be inside. (as a hospital pharmacist we get to ID any pills people bring in- those labels are a real time saver.)

Everyone should know what they are taking, why they are taking it and what to expect, and take your pharmacist up on the offer to talk to you about it if you aren't sure.