The pharmacist filled the prescription with Plendil but attached directions with the dosage for Isordil. As a result, Vasquez not only got the wrong drug, but was directed to take it at eight times the maximum daily dosage. He took it several times, each time complaining to his wife about how terrible it made him feel. The day after he began taking it, Vasquez suffered a massive heart attack. He died several days later, leaving his wife and three teenage children.
Experts say such mistakes are frighteningly common.
Due to a prescription error, she died from an accidental overdose of morphine. The problem occurs in hospitals, at drug store pharmacies and in any medical setting. One large-scale study found that roughly two percent of prescriptions examined contained one or more prescription errors. And the problem is growing. A study published last year in the medical journal Lancet estimated that between 1983 and 1993, the number of deaths caused by drug errors jumped 250 percent to more than 7,000 a year.