The pharmacy appealed, but the Alabama Supreme Court agreed with the jury and upheld the punitive damages. This evidence, in addition to evidence of complaints filed with the State Board of Pharmacy and the evidence of lawsuits filed alleging misfilled prescriptions, was relevant to show Harco s knowledge of problems, and Harco s having failed to initiate sufficient institutional controls over the manner in which prescriptions were filled. That duty requires the pharmacy owner or chain to institute a system of risk management designed to reduce the number of errors in its pharmacies. Several boards of pharmacy are now considering a similar position in order to stem what the boards see as an alarming rise in the number of complaints of pharmacy errors. When the number of errors reported have caused the boards to become concerned for the public's safety, some boards of pharmacy have required pharmacy owner or chains to institute a plan of quality assurance or risk management.
Risk management calls for a systematic approach to the practice of pharmacy.
Human beings make errors, but a risk management system can be designed to reduce those errors. A true system of quality assurance goes beyond risk management to envelop the concept of quality measurement and continuous quality improvement. No system can totally eliminate errors, but pharmacy owners should be required to implement a quality control program. This is especially true when the pharmacy dictates the hours of employment, the technicians provided, and the production expected of the pharmacist. National drugstore corporations have the knowledge and experience to create a program that aggressively seeks to minimize errors.