Deadly prescription overdose kills mother
http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii/deadly-prescription-overdose-kills-mother/25028750
From the article:
According to a lawsuit filed Monday, Kailua doctor Jason Florimonte prescribed fentanyl patch to Benedi-Wells for her back pain. The suit alleges Benedi-Wells was prescribed triple what a beginning dosage should be and it claims drug warnings were disregarded.
Fried showed a Fentanyl prescription and Benedi-Wells prescription, which he says shows the drugs warning covered by the Longs label. Fried also said Longs Drugs and the pharmacist involved knew or should have known Benedi-Wells prescription history.
If we had PATIENTS this statement would probably be true “pharmacist involved knew or should have known Benedi-Wells prescription history.”
Would that statement be valid.. if we have just CUSTOMERS ?
I am sure that some Pharmacists have patients and others have just customers… otherwise known as “that person at the register wanting to give us money “
Filed under: General Problems
thanks, Steve, for telling it like it is
@Carolyn.. here in “the states” we have not committed the resources to have a common Rx database for all healthcare professionals to access. In many states – some have outlawed the practice – these chains offer “gift cards” to people who will transfer their Rxs to their pharmacy.. thus helping to scatter the pt’s health records. I have talked to RPH’s of this particular chain.. and this is the rule not the exception among all the chains – they are scheduled to work 12-14 hrs.. no scheduled breaks (meals or restrooms)..and average reviewing 40-45 Rxs/hr. If it is a new patient.. coming from another pharmacy.. or newly diagnosed patient.. the typical pharmacist doesn’t have the time – or the encouragement from upper management – to collect a medical history. The two most common questions first asked by a patient is HOW MUCH & HOW LONG A WAIT.. I can just imagine the grief from the average new patient if we insisted on collecting a complete medical history.. Of course, when someone gets hurt.. it is off to see the attorney… because we should have known about the patient’s complete medical history. Given the insurance reimbursement in this country.. working under the current processes .. the typical pharmacies operates on a < 3% net profit. Also in our country.. and this lawsuit is typical.. the chain corporation.. who establishes all of the work environment parameters - including tech staffing levels.. is not included in this lawsuit. At least here in "the states" we tend to blame the individual for mistakes/problems.. instead of the system .. which is almost always the genesis of all the resulting mistakes/errors by the individual. IMO.. in this case - as in nearly all - THE SYSTEM should be the one being sued
It’s a tough call. Here in BC the College of Physicians and Surgeons finally got it together and made it so that all of your prescriptions through the Pharmacare program here are connected … no matter who the prescriber is. I have myself taken issue with pharmacists calling us patients as they are not doctors. Pharmacists dispense medications to us. This is what they are trained to do. (Though more than once my pharmacist has saved me from taking drugs that I shouldn’t be taking or have been tried and didn’t work …). Yes I think pharmacists should be keeping track of their customers’ prescriptions. If I go to a particular store here, am a regular shopper, they know me through my phone number, know what I’ve purchased in the past etc. If being a doctor means you can diagnose and prescribe, where a pharmacist cannot … and where you are a patient of a doctor because he diagnoses and prescribes, it would fall to reason that you then become a customer of the service the dispenses the prescribed medications. This is in no way mitigating the importance and value of pharmacists in my mind.
In the instance referred to in the article, I would feel that the pharmacy is liable. If it is true as alleged that the patch prescribed was 3x that of a normal beginning dose, would it not have raised an alarm in the mind of the pharmacist? Did he not ask her questions?
Summary – yes pharmacies need to be keeping records of all of their customer’s prescriptions. Cash, covered … whatever. If not to protect the customer then to protect themselves.