Med Error

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Pg. 2

That's pretty close to "pregnant woman given abortion pill", wouldn't you say?

Well in the first title, it sounds like a pharmacist gave her a pill that was solely used for abortion. Some people might think it was intentional for whatever reason, or that there was ridiculously slack fail-safes for people getting that medicine.

It would be equivalent to "lady received cyanide pill" in that people would wonder how such a medicine was loosely let go and given away like that on accident.

Plus, the pill doesn't 100% abort the child nor was it manufactured for that purpose. It would be like "Author of Methotrexate article causes pharmacist to commit suicide."
 
How about, "Pregnant woman given 'off-label' abortion medication in error"?

ETA: The media has no commitment to effectively educate society!
 
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I know of one state (IIRC, Ohio) where the pharmacist must be the one to give the prescription to the patient. The technician can't do it.

Where have you heard that? I worked as a tech before starting pharmacy school, and even now our techs are still able to give the prescription to the patient. My company has it in the register where we can't actually ring up the rx without entering a DOB into the register, which I think is a good thing that should be implemented in more places.
 
The media is calling it an "abortion" pill because it's senstational and gets attention and therefore $$$. Everything that the media does is deliberate and calculated, facts be damned.

Besides, I don't think methotrexate is an abortion pill anyway. It doesn't stimulate contractions like misoprostel, for example. I believe it interrupts cell division and therefore, arrests growth. That's why it would be useful in ectopic pregnancy, where continued growth of the fertilized egg outside of the uterus endangers the mother's health. It may also cause fetal malformations and death, but that doesn't make it an "abortion pill." There are no "abortion pills" approved by the FDA in this country anyway.
 
so i wonder if she just took 1 methotrexate.. or if she looked at the directions but didn't bother noticing the name was different on the bottle, since more people on methotrexate take anywhere from a 4-8 pills weekly all at once...
 
This one is definitely a saddening story. Which is why I am really in support of tougher training for pharmacists to insure that they will perform well on the job.
Tougher training? What does that have to do with selling an incorrect package to a patient?! *shakes head*
 
This one is definitely a saddening story. Which is why I am really in support of tougher training for pharmacists to insure that they will perform well on the job.

I've always thought that pharmacy schools should take more of a boot camp approach as well. If only everyone was as smart as you are.
 
Oh no, pharmacy school doesn't "insure" good performance on the job :laugh:

I wonder what the premium would be for that....

No if you want a school that teaches you how to be good in retail then get one sponsored by medco...
 


While I can sympathize with any professional's aversion to potential malpractice claims. . . Juries are loathe to find physicians and other health professionals liable, no matter how egregious the conduct.

Crime can not be tolerated. Criminals thrive on the indulgences of society's understanding.
 
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