Target pharmacy -- shouldn't they be more careful?

[farleygirl]

My 10-month-old is on Zantac for reflux. I just refilled his prescription, and when I got home, realized that the Target pharmacists gave me the wrong "syringe," which is the method they use to deliver the medicine orally.

The reason this is so scary is that the required does is .9 ml, obviously just shy of 1 ml. Well, they gave me a syringe that starts at 1 ml and goes up to 10 ml, instead of the smaller syringe which goes from .1 ml to 1 ml! If a sleepy momma, or an uninformed babysitter or relative was in charge of the dosage, they could easily misread the printed label as 9 ml, an easy assumption given a syringe which lists 9 ml as a dosage, but not the required .9 ml!

I instantly called Target and asked to speak to a pharmacist so they could remind all pharmacists and assistants to always check the dosages when providing the syringes. I just think it's a scary mistake (not that they seemed all that alarmed).

So am I over-reacting? I hear about parents incorrectly dosing their kids, sometimes even causing death.

[JTsMom]

I think that is really scary too. I don't think you are over-reacting at all! Thank goodness you knew what you were looking for. If it had been the first time you'd filled the prescription, it would have been very easy to miss that.

I picked up Jason's heart medication once and (thank goodness) checked the expiration date- you guessed it. Expired! I don't know how effective it would have been past the date, but I sure wouldn't want to find out! The thing that REALLY ticked me off about it was the attitude I got when I told them. They said, "Well, it has a really short shelf life, so it expires quickly once we get it." HUH? Doesn't seem like much of an excuse to me!

[missliss55]

My 10 month old DD is also on Zantac for reflux and boy that is scary. We get her perscription from Longs and they never have the little syringes....I actually had a pharmacist tell me to kind of guess. Well you know what...I don't want to kind of guess.

[goodnightmoon]

Wow, that really scares me. I honestly believe I would have assumed that "9" was the correct amount since that syringe was given along with the prescription.

I definitely will check carefully on all prescriptions from now on. Thank you for posting this!

Laura
mommy to Eva Marie 2/16/05

[farleygirl]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought it was scary. And as to the other pharmacy experiences -- expired medicine and "guessing" a dose?!? Are you kidding? That's so scary. And I never even thought to look for expirations on medicines. Add that to my new checklist. Aargh.

Oh, and one more thing -- the person I first spoke with was one of the assistants, who was completely unimpressed with my story. She kept telling me that I could come in and get the correct syringe size, no problem. OK, what part of my explanation wasn't clear, that is not the problem here! The problem is the huge safety concern! She finally asked if I woudl want to talk with one of the pharmacists. Um, yeah. Let's try that.

[egoldber]

Pharmacists are human. Pharmacists are also getting harder and harder to find, so pharmicies are pretty much always chronically understaffed. ALWAYS check ANY prescription you get at any pharmacy. Always. I've been given completely the wrong drug, incorrect dosage information, wrong amounts, sent home with an antobiotic not mixed, etc.

[mamamayi]

I have also been given the entire wrong medication before. I think the error in the syringe size would be much easier to miss, though. I'm so glad you caught the mistake!

[o_mom]

It's not just Target... Walgreens is about to get the boot from us.

The last time I was there, they first 'lost' the prescription, so I had to go back a second time - now with the kids, since I had a sitter initially. Then I pick it up at the drive thru and just sent my card in the little tube. I didn't check the receipt until I pulled away and they overcharged because they didn't have the correct insurance info. We have all our prescriptions there, I have filled at least a dozen since the last insurance change, but they couldn't figure out that DS2 also changed and no one thought to ask me. I had to unload everyone and take them inside to get it fixed (DS2 cranky with EI) where they had to call a manager to do the refund. After all that get all the way home and realize they gave me a SPOON instead of a syringe for a 13 month old.

However, they do manage to send us a dire warning letter every month because we have never refilled DS1s Pulmicort......

[ajmom]

Walgreen's got the boot from us a long time ago. DS1 had to have an antibiotic and they gave it to me in powder form- they forgot to add the water to reconstitute it! OMG! If I didn't have better sense (and there are people out there who don't) I would have tried to force down a teaspoon of the powder, thinking I was doing the right thing! Can you imagine how much of an overdose that would be, not diluted?? When I called, the pharmacist, he had the nerve to tell me I could add the water myself- as if I know how much to put in!! Anyway, I marched up there to get the rx fixed and swore never to go back.