$31 million dispensing error

[ethyl]

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0609300047sep30,1,7800778.story?coll=chi-business-hed

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Walgreens to appeal $31 million error award
Wrong prescription killed man, jury finds

By Michael Higgins
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 30, 2006

A Cook County jury awarded $31.3 million Friday to the estate of a Schaumburg man who died in 2002 after becoming ill the previous year when a Walgreens pharmacist gave him the wrong prescription medication.

Leonard Kulisek went to the Walgreens pharmacy at 38 E. Golf Rd. in Schaumburg on Jan. 5, 2001, to pick up his gout medication. But Kulisek, then 77, was given glipizide, a drug used to treat diabetes.

The drug dropped his blood sugar to dangerously low levels and triggered a string of health problems, including a stroke in May 2001, said David Axelrod, attorney for Kulisek's estate. Kulisek died in November 2002.

"The jury believed [the pharmacist] was under the influence of controlled narcotic drugs and, as a result, put the wrong medicine, glipizide, into the bottle," Axelrod said after the verdict.

The two medications were round, white pills but had different markings, he said.

Richard Marston of Schaumburg filed the lawsuit in 2002 as the administrator of Kulisek's estate. Kulisek, who had no children, lived with Marston, a longtime friend, and Marston's two children.

The jury awarded Kulisek's estate $6.3 million to compensate for his death and pain and suffering, and $25 million in punitive damages.

Attorneys for Walgreens acknowledged that Kulisek was given the wrong medicine but argued the mistake did not cause his death. A spokesman for Walgreen Co., Michael Polzin, said Friday that the company would appeal.

In 2004, a jury awarded $21 million to an Elgin couple after a prescription for their infant daughter was mistakenly filled by a Walgreens pharmacist with glipizide. The girl, Alexandra Gehrke, suffered permanent brain injuries.

 

[crossurfingers]

Holy crap! I had no idea these payouts were so huge. What would happen to the pharmacist who made the error (assuming he was not under the influence of any illegal drugs, but just made an error). Would he/she ever practice pharmacy again?

 

[sdn1977]

A sad case....

I just saw a listing of complaints to my state board for the fiscal year 2005-2006. It involved 337 complaints which are still open & 397 complaints closed. Citations issued against pharmacists were 102 as opposed to 112 against pharmacies (some citations are against both...) This doesn't even include the number of litigations pharmacists are named in along with other plaintiffs (ie surgeons, nurses, etc...) These are just complaints made to the state board.

The most frequent error is the wrong drug dispensed (42%), second most frequent is the wrong strength (23%). Surprisingly....the 3rd most frequent is the wrong patient (10%).

We are a proximate cause of many, many drug errors! Be very careful! I've said it before.....you never get over the big error you make - it always stays with you! Don't be rushed - your patient will get over it (or get gone as was said in another thread), you don't care what your tech thinks about how fast or slow you are & you certainly shouldn't care about your employer - they pay out the big bucks if you make a huge mistake. And...don't be under the influence - that seems to be the clincher in this case.

But...you are still the one who has to sleep at night....

 

[sdn1977]

Holy crap! I had no idea these payouts were so huge. What would happen to the pharmacist who made the error (assuming he was not under the influence of any illegal drugs, but just made an error). Would he/she ever practice pharmacy again?

Probably a shared judgement - Walgreens & the pharmacist's malpractice insurance. And....if he was under the influence...he's probably had his licenses suspended & ordered to a recovery program with reinstatement dependent upon recovery.

He may or may not practice again..it all depends on what he was abusing.

 

[BME103]

I am glad pharmacists are being sued for making mistakes. If more people do that then it will force the retails to properly staff their pharmacies.

 

[alwaystired]

I am glad pharmacists are being sued for making mistakes. If more people do that then it will force the retails to properly staff their pharmacies.

it sucks for the rph to have to be sued b/c the company put them in the horrible position. Not an excuse if you are under the influence, but our society pressures us to be quick and have the can do attitude.....well, some situations just do not deserve the "can do anything" and faster faster faster attitude. pharmacy is one of them. like sdn said, we need to take our time and ignore the pressures put on us, which can sometimes be easier said than done.

 

[ethyl]

I was under the impression the pharmacist was on prescribed narcotics, perhaps for a chronic condition since the article didn't say he/she was doing anything illegal. I guess I'm just biased. 😳 Can't believe anyone would work like that though.. they'd be begging for a lawsuit.

 

[MountainPharmD]

These are the same idiot customers who come in and rant and rave about how long it takes their prescription to get filled. You know all you have to do is throw some pills in a bottle, why is it taking so long? These are the same idiots who will run and get a lawyer the second something goes wrong.

LESSON TO ALL: Do not hurry, do not rush, do not let an idiot customer rush you. Take the time needed to fill every prescription correctly, evey time.

 

[realrph]

I really hope Walgreen & CVS, Safeway, Albertsons & Right Aid go under just like Enron & Worldcom. They exploit pharmacists for too much stress, no lunch breaks, no breaks of any kind, short handed debilitated techs. That's saves them $$$$ to give away to regional managers & supervisors at year end. Many people thn kthey don't even follow on "Sarbane-Oaxley" agreement. Too many corporate crooks & behind the scenes favoritism & HR games mixed with affirmative action. Screw tjhem all. I hope at least one big chain goes under, so then others will enact laws to give at least 2-3 techs per each pharmaicist.😉

 

[senzabee]

Why is it that glipizide is so common amongst medication errors?

I've been doing chart audits and saw that a patient was admitted for a mistake where he also got glipizide instead of something else. It's just scary.

 

[Fatpharm]

I am glad pharmacists are being sued for making mistakes. If more people do that then it will force the retails to properly staff their pharmacies.

Are you thinking straight? This would just open the door for lawyers to take the opportunity to jump all over pharmacists well staffed or not. Do you know that pharmacy insurance is very low because we are not sued very often? Physicians would kill to be in our position right now.

 

[sdn1977]

Why is it that glipizide is so common amongst medication errors?

I've been doing chart audits and saw that a patient was admitted for a mistake where he also got glipizide instead of something else. It's just scary.

Traditionally, this was because glipizide & glyburide were so close on the shelf, sounded alike, looked alike & had same dosage strengths.

We've now added glimepiride...for the same disease, sounds alike, looks alike in written form, but different strengths. Not on the same shelf position if using brand name alphabet, but same place if using generic alphabet shelving.

 

[rx1]

The only dispensing error that was made that was fully my fault was brushed off by the customer b.c we were talking about hockey and shooting the breeze about life in general. We were cool and he actually blamed himself for distracting me. No adverse health outcomes though cause he caught it before he took it. I have yet (luckily) to see someone take a wrongly dispensed med. Lets hear some personal horror stories though, I think that we can learns from each others mistakes.

 

[senzabee]

Traditionally, this was because glipizide & glyburide were so close on the shelf, sounded alike, looked alike & had same dosage strengths.

We've now added glimepiride...for the same disease, sounds alike, looks alike in written form, but different strengths. Not on the same shelf position if using brand name alphabet, but same place if using generic alphabet shelving.

The thing is that it was mistakenly given to a patient who was on something totally different. I can't remember the name of the medicine off the top of my head, but the names weren't similar at all (the one he should have gotten started with a V).

 

[sdn1977]

The thing is that it was mistakenly given to a patient who was on something totally different. I can't remember the name of the medicine off the top of my head, but the names weren't similar at all (the one he should have gotten started with a V).

and you're doing chart audits😱 ??? What are you auditing that you don't know what drug you are looking at.....or is it for something completely non-drug related?