Phony Pills

[GreenGreta]

This is a local story from Southern Ontario.

There were some phony prescription meds floating around, (important blood pressure meds, actually). A local pharmacy in Hamilton mistakenly gave these to some patients. FIVE people have died.

The pills were clearly marked differently than the usual ones.

Who's responsible? The pharmasist for not noticing the pills had NO LOGO (don't all pills have a logo), and the identification number on them were wrong? Or the patient who should be extra careful about what he is eating.

Ok, this information was out long before the pills hit pharmacy level. There were warnings about the fake pills and the differences between them were explained, in detail, on the news a week or so before they were in stores.

I think the patient should be more responsible. If I was on the medication I would have remembered the article and looked at my pills (Yes it is sooo easy for me to say this, I know).

You guys? Any thoughts?

 

[Haggis McBagpipe]

I would say the pharmacist is responsible. Pills are his job, after all... and a patient would naturally trust that the pharmacist would be extra-diligent at his job in light of the media information.

I, as a patient, would certainly inspect any pills, of course, and yes, the patients should have been more aware. Yet they paid the ultimate price for not having done so... what price will the pharmacist pay?

Possibly the people who died were elderly (hardly the only age-group to take hypertension medication but certainly the prevalent one). The elderly are not likely to examine their pills, and, in many cases, would not be able to see a difference anyway.

 

[missile]

The pharmacist will lose his job and his credentials,if there is any sort of a hearing into this. He's responsible for the deaths.

 

[Haggis McBagpipe]

There will definitely be a hearing, yes. Aside from the media coverage, the pharmacist would have directly received a bulletin with the alert. To screw up not just once but 5+ times is remarkably incompetent.