Pharmacist Gave Me The Wrong Medication

**cbent2005** · 12-07-2007, 09:00 PM

I don't really think I have enough to pursue any kind of case but I wanted someones opinion.......
My wife got a prescription filled at a Walmart pharmacy on 12/5. Th pills are Oxycodone 5mg tablets. She has had this same prescription filled there the last 3 months (Oct Nov Dec). She has been on this medication for 2 years. SHe took a pill (on 12/5) and commented that it tasted different. About 20 min later she was hit with vertigo like symptoms. These symptoms lasted approx 1 hour. She took a second pill later that same night. This time she said the pill tasted 'normal' and no vertigo.

On 12/6, she took a 3rd pill - again it had a funny taste. In addition to the vertigo, she gets hives/swelling on her fingers and hands. Long story short.... She had 2 different types of pills in her bottle. They were identical in size shape and scoring. The ONLY differences were the ID numbers. SHe calls the pharmacy. They say there's no way that there can be 2 different pills because the pharmacist opened a new bottle to fill the script.

On 12/7 she brings the pills to the pharmacist and he says that they are definitely the right pills - the company just changed the pill ID number. BTW- he never even looked at the pills she brought in. We get home and she takes a pill. The SAME thing happens again, only worse. After some poking around on the internet, she finally finds a profile(with pill ID numberand picture) of the pills that have been making her so sick. The pills are DEMEROL 50mg tablets!! Big difference. My wife called the pharmacist back and told them what she had found - suddenly they were all apologetic andwere more than happy to talk to her doctor and explain why she needs a new script

Thankfully, nothing serious happened. But I feel like the pharmacists were blowing her off because it was pain medication (like she was trying to get extra pills or something). If they had taken a few minutes to look at her medication, they might have caught their mistake sooner. Any thoughts/commentss?

**cbg** · 12-09-2007, 04:35 AM

Does she have any long term damages because of it, or just temporary ones?

**aaron** · 12-09-2007, 06:49 AM

That question relates to the difference between whether this is a potential medical malpractice case or is likely to be one that is resolved through administrative/licensing complaints. Absent serious injury, such that the likely recovery would provide a reasonable return on the significant expense of litigation, a malpractice lawyer is not likely to take the case.

I suspect that you are correct, that the reaction of pharmacists when they get a complaint from somebody receiving pain medication is that the patient is "up to something."

**cbent2005** · 12-09-2007, 09:28 AM

Quoting cbg

Does she have any long term damages because of it, or just temporary ones?

Nothing serious- her hands are still swollen but they are better. This has been going on since Wed. We really had no intention of pursuing this. Just wanted to complain, really. It just irritates the crap out of me that 3 different pharmacists (including the pharmacy manager)gave her grief - despite the fact that she told them she didn't want the pills replaced - she just wanted someone to verify that the pills were what they were supposed to be. When she handed the bottle to the pharmacist he didn't even open it. I do understand that there are people who do try to get more medication - that makes it a pain for those who are honest. But to ASSUME she is looking for meds...... Enough venting.Thanks for your replies.

**FlyinHawk®** · 12-09-2007, 04:16 PM

Your only course of action may be to contact walmart's hotline for complaints. You can contact them toll free at 1-800-925-6278. Its automated at first, you want to select one for customer calling in and then 4 for all other problems. I am not sure what they can or will do but it is worth a shot as this could have been something more serious and something needs to be done.

**Mr. Knowitall** · 12-09-2007, 09:02 PM

As has already been stated, there are potential licensing and regulatory complaints that could be made.

**cbent2005** · 12-12-2007, 07:30 PM

SInce my wife has made a full recovery weith no lasting side effects, we have decided to drop it at this point (nothing will get done and I don't have the energy to deal with Walmart). My wife went to a consumer affairs website and posted her issue there. Made her feel better and at least other people will get to read what happened to her. Oh, and we stopped filling our scripts at Walmart (duh).