The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-02-13
MISTAKES IN MEDICINE.
Careless Physicians Who Make Grave Er
rOrs In Their Prescriptions.


THAT was a hard run of it," re-
marked downtown clerk to re-
porter for the San, who dropped in n
drug store late the other night. people
talk about mistakes of pharmacists, but
not one mistake is made in drug store
to twenty by doctors who write prescrip-
tons. I have just had case which
might have caused death if had not
discovered an error by physician in
time to prevent it. Two hours ago
man came in here with prescription.
He was in a hurry for it, because the
person for whom it was intended was
suffering greatly, and something had
to be done. The physician WHO attend
ed the case wrote out prescription.
The medicines he intended to give
were to relieve the suffering, but in
compromising the prescription [ found
that he had included enough of power
full drug to have killed twenty persons
in the doses he intended to give. 1t
was not case where | could make an
alteration, as druggists frequently have
to do | could not make up the pre-
scription, because | knew it would
cause death. The only thing to be done
was to hunt up the doctor. | had to
hunt him up myself, because he would
have been very angry if had sent the
man after him, and we would have lost
his custom. / took cab and drove to
his house. There l found he had
moved away, and l had to go a mile
farther before found him. 1t was an
hour and half before l got back and
filled the prescription.
"Do such things frequently occurp"
"They happen every day. In most
cases they are detected by the druggist
before harm results. A pharmacist
must know the nature of drug, for
what purpose it is used and the amount
given in ordinary doses. This is espe-
cially true of poisons or potent reme-
dies. BY this means if errors are made
we can detect them. The mere acct
dental addition of small angle to the
sign used for dram will make it an
ounce and multiplies the quantity
eighty times. That little mark is easily
made and it frequently is. just yester-
day prescription came to me from
physician who wanted to give patient
q medicine so potent that three drops
would have killed him. In order to
prevent overdoses the medicine was to
be mixed with four ounces of some
harmless liquid, which is known to the
trade as the 'vehicle;' that is, the harm
less drug used to dilute the potent
remedy. In this prescription the ply
stefan had simply reversed the two
drugs, giving four ounces of the poison
Gus medicine and few drops of the
vehicle Of course that was mistake
on its face, and l simply reversed the
quantities.
"Do these errors arise from the care
lessness of the physician"
81 can't say it is carelessness, but
something is wrong. | can see that
some errors arise from the fact that
members of family talk to a physician
when he is writing the prescription,
and he Inadvertently writes the wrong
medicine. If, however, physicians
would carefully read their prescriptions
before sending them out there would be
less trouble, but more than half the
doctors write out the prescription, tear
it off the tab and give it to the patient
or his friends without looking at it
again. If physicians would read their
prescriptions some very common errors
would be avoided. For example, it not
infrequently happens that morphine is
written for quinine. Physicians in good
standing in Chicago have written on
prescriptions calling for six-grain NOR
phine capsules. Now anybody would
know that was not the thing that
was wanted. Such prescriptions
would never get into q drug
store if the doctors were only more
careful in their work. or if they would
read their prescriptions before sending
in illegible writing. Doctors as Il rule
are careless writer's. Their prescrip-
tons are difficultto read. Many a time
! have been compelled to 90 to a doc
tors office and get him to decipher
prescription, and every druggist has
had the same experience. Now, if there
is anything that should be written in
a clear, bold hand it is a prescription.
Think how much depends upon its cor
rect composition by the druggist. If
he should make mistake no excuse
would be made for him. Scores of doe
tors never think of this. They write
prescriptions in bad penmanship and
the druggist has to trust to luck
1t seems to me that good penmanship
should be made one of the requisites of
physicians right to practice. Medi-
cal colleges should have penmanship
department and require its students to
take a full course before graduating
In that way many mistakes of physi-
clans now attributed to druggists might
be avoided. - Chicago San.