I-Team: Report Suggests Trend In Prescription Drug Errors Filled By Pharmacists

BOSTON (CBS) — Anyone who has waited in a drug store for a prescription knows a pharmacy counter can be a busy place. “It’s a high-pace, high-stress environment,” a former CVS pharmacy technician told the I-Team. She did not want to be identified, but she believes that stress leads to mistakes. “Somebody gets the wrong strength of medication, somebody gets the wrong number of pills,” she said. The I-Team obtained documents detailing prescription drug errors reported to the State Department of Public Health.  Since 2010, pharmacies reported 194 serious drug errors.  In one case, an allergy drug was given to a patient instead of a high blood pressure medication.  In another case, a patient got something for acid reflux instead of an anti-depressant, and an arthritis drug was given to someone who needed a medicine for seizures. The pharmacy technician believes a growing trend in pharmacies is behind all that stress and the errors.  It is called performance metrics, a system used to measure how many prescriptions a pharmacist fills and how fast.  It also counts flu shots and phone calls pharmacists make to patients urging them to fill prescriptions. If the pharmacist falls behind, she says, they’ll hear about. “You didn’t make all of your 50 phone calls. I want you to write an action plan to tell me how tomorrow you are going to get all of your prescriptions filled, get  your phone calls made plus give out x number of flu shots,” she said describing ...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health i-Team Local News Seen On WBZ-TV Syndicated Local Watch Listen CVS investigatiion ITeam Pharmacy prescription drug errors Source Type: news