I lost my trust in the pharmacist. Five-year old Brittany Buckley was given an adult dosage of Compazine, for nausea. Brittany spent four days in a hospital with rapid heart rate, seizures and muscle spasms, and is okay now. The Food and Drug Administration estimates more than 1.3 million Americans are injured each year from medication errors like getting the wrong drug or wrong dose, but we don t know for sure how often pharmacists make mistakes. The drastic increase in prescriptions in recent years is often mentioned as the biggest reason pharmacists are making more errors.
More medications means more mistakes.
And there s a shortage of pharmacists. The University of Florida is helping pharmacists improve their systems so even if a mistake is made, it s caught before the medication gets to the patient. When the pharmacist or tech asks if you have any questions about your medication, say yes. If it s a refill and it looks different than what you usually get, ask about it.