Pharmacy Negligance/Mistakes?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

pharmalang

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2010
Messages
175
Reaction score
1
**negligence.

I'm not sure if I can explain this correctly but...

If a healthcare provider writes a wrong order, and the pharmacy gives the nurse the medication to administer it, to what degree is the Pharmacist held accountable?

One of my friends who is is nursing school said that if, as a nurse, if she administers the wrong medication that was prescribed by a doctor, she would lose her license since she is the last line of defense.

Also, I know Pharmacists are supposed to check patient records, but if someone just goes to any random pharmacy and gets a prescription filled in 20 minutes, does the Pharmacist really check all of the patients records? I honestly don't know much about these situations but can anyone explain any examples and consequences? I guess I'm trying to get more insight about the laws and regulations of Pharmacy.

Members don't see this ad.
 
These are loaded questions and are highly dependent on clinical situation, practice setting, in house protocols, the script itself, required quality checkpoints, DDI software (or lack thereof), disease state of the patient, laws of the state. It all depends...did you have a specific instance in mind?

IMO, it Is the responsibility of all practitioners involved to get the right treatment to the patient. People make mistakes. But giving a patient lisinopril instead of enalapril is different from giving a patient a patient bactrim who had previous anaphylaxis to sulfa (and it's noted in the chart) and that patient has a reaction.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
These are loaded questions and are highly dependent on clinical situation, practice setting, in house protocols, the script itself, required quality checkpoints, DDI software (or lack thereof), disease state of the patient, laws of the state. It all depends...did you have a specific instance in mind?

IMO, it Is the responsibility of all practitioners involved to get the right treatment to the patient. People make mistakes. But giving a patient lisinopril instead of enalapril is different from giving a patient a patient bactrim who had previous anaphylaxis to sulfa (and it's noted in the chart) and that patient has a reaction.

I don't have any specific situations. Thank you for your response!
 
Yeah it's a very complex question. Very situational, but I can tell you your friend would probably not lose her license due to a mistake. You don't automatically lose your license because you made a mistake, even if it made it to the patient otherwise half of healthcare providers would be out of a license... it depends where processes broke down, was negligence involved, was it done on purpose, was harm done to the patient, etc.
 
The job of the pharmacist, and of the nurse, is that of due diligence. If the physician mistakenly prescribed a medication, but the dose was correct, there were no allergies to this medication or interactions with other meds, and the prescription was legitimate, then the pharmacist is not at fault because he or she was diligent.

Example: A patient brings in a prescription for warfarin 10 mg QD. The prescription is legitimate and includes instructions for anticoag monitoring. You dispense the prescription. The patient has a hemorrhage occur due to the dose; the physician MEANT to prescribe 2.5 mg but got distracted. This is not your fault, because you are not aware of the particulars of the patient and were unable to determine that it was a high dose because it was in the range of normal dosing.
 
Top