Pharmacist Explains Prescription-Filling Process
This comes after a Marianna mother claimed another pharmacy’s negligence injured her daughter.
Source: Pharmacist Explains Prescription-Filling Process VIDEO LINK
http://www.arkansasmatters.com/news/local-news/pharmacist-explains-prescription-filling-process
Does anyone recognize this work environment ?… no drive thru, no ringing phones, no interruptions, no dozens of basket stacked up ?
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Questions continue to roll in after a Marianna mother claimed a pharmacy’s negligence injured her daughter.
The prescription bag showed the four-year-old girl’s information, but the bottle and pills belonged to another patient.
Many asked on Facebook how the pharmacy and mother did not notice.
After a Little Rock pharmacist showed KARK 4 News the prescription-filling process Monday, it seemed it would be difficult for a mistake to make it to a customer.
“Whatever you do, it’s all on you basically,” said Tamela McGraw, an intern at Freiderica Pharmacy and Compounding. “Double, triple check everything. That’s always reinforced to say that the pharmacist is the last line before the drug goes over the counter because they have to check it.”
McGraw demonstrated once the pharmacy receives a prescription from a doctor, a pharmacy technician enters the doctor, patient and drug information, and the pharmacist approves it.
The tech can then fill the prescription, which the pharmacist must also approve.
The pills then move from a basket to a bag, ready for the patient.
McGraw said it is a five minute to hour-long process she goes through with every prescription.
However, mistakes can happen, like possibly putting pills into the wrong bag.
“It really depends on the workflow that day and how many people are getting their prescriptions filled at that certain pharmacy,” McGraw said.
The consequences could be deadly.
“Especially since some medications are toxic to some patients,” McGraw said.
For that reason, the people behind the counter cannot be the only ones who have eyes on the prescriptions.
McGraw said it is also the patient’s responsibility.
“Take your time, open the bag, look at it, even ask the pharmacist or technician what’s inside,” she said. “Then you won’t have to worry about getting someone else’s medication.”
KARK 4 News has still not heard from the Fred’s Pharmacy corporate office, the pharmacy in question from Friday’s story, after multiple attempts at communication.
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Filed under: General Problems
All new completed Rx products should be placed in clear plastic bag along with original Rx and computer generated paper. It is the pharmacists’ responsibility to open the bag in the presence of the patient or agent and review the name of the medicine, the instructions for use and other relevant info like side effects and storage. Then and only then is the container placed in a paper bag to be taken home. Documentation of the discussion between pharmacist and patient/agent is written on previously generated paper.
This is getting out of control! It is the pharmacist responsibility to assure that the patients get their required medications. If a pharmtec makes a mistake, that responsibility falls on the shoulders of the pharmacist not the patient. Just like in the food industry, the chef is in charge and if food makes someone sick then he/she is to blame.
It is the patient’s responsibility to check what is in the bag…what it says on the label and such…especially if it is a guardian giving the medication to the minor in their charge. I can’t speak for Arkansas, but here in Cali, the BOP has mandated that a fairly precise description of the tablet or capsule is provided as part of the label information, e.g., the shape, color, imprint, etc. To lay this solely at the feet of the pharmacist, especially when it’s one’s child involved is not acceptable. It almost sounds like the mother didn’t even bother to look at the label instructions or any of the auxiliary warning stickers/information on the label. At some point she would have seen the name and something should have clicked. Some may claim, “Well, what of the mother is illiterate?” The someone who can read needs to tell the mother what the label says. Illiteracy is not a blanket excuse. I only bring this up because I’ve been involved in this kind of debate before.
The mother bears a portion of the responsibility in this case. There is an expectation that the patient or the patient’s caregiver is going to read the label. That’s why every state BOP has some sort of labeling standards on the books. That tacit expectation by the State is there for a reason. The expectation is that the patient or patient’s caregiver needs to be capable and responsible enough to read Or have someone read) and follow the instructions, be aware of the precautions and ancillary dosing instructions, e.g., with food or empty stomach, and be able to vet the identity of the medication in the bottle against what the label states is supposed to be in the container (where such is applicable). The name on the label is a no-brainer. No, I’m not going to go there.
remember mandatory counseling; someone at pharmacy dropped the ball. you really need to flag new rx and make sure techs call you no matter how many you need to verify. i think you dropped this one, and i hate to say this, as i want to be on your side. cant.