I feel for the patients family, very tragic. But the farmacy holds maybe 20% of the fault at most. Why didn't the patient double check doctors orders with what was in the perscription bottle? That would have prevented the whole situation. We have to stop pointing the finger at other people and start taking responsibility for our own actions (or lack thereof).

Isn't it interesting that this same girl would not be allowed by law to scan your beer or achohol through the register scanner and place it in the bag for you without the assistance of an adult (18 yrs)running the product accross the scanning belt for her at the grocery store but she can fill your prescription at the pharmacy with out limitations?

I fully agree with the statement made above by Anthony. The majority of the public do not fully understand everything that goes into medication therapy and expect getting a prescription to be no different than ordering a cheeseburger. As a current pharmacy student, we are made fully aware that unfortunately, errors do happen in every field of healthcare, including pharmacy. Everyone, no matter age or education, is capable of making a mistake, that is why we always prefer to double check with another source.

Also, in your preview of this evening special, you said that you were waving your ability to ask questions, that is simply untrue. Everyone at my pharmacy ALWAYS ask if you have any questions, but that DOES NOT mean that you cannot call later if you have a question. By law, pharmacy phone numbers are given to patients for a reason, we are there for them and more than willing to answer any questions they have.

Also, technically, not all patients in every state are actually required to be offered that consultation service, just Medicare patients. Pharmacies have extended that offer to counsel to all patients because they care about their patients, not to sidestep the law as you implied this morning. I understand that journalism is about making people pay attention to what you say, but in the future, it would be appreciated if you would at least be fair in your reporting. Pharmacy and pharmacists are the most underappreciated part of the healthcare system, an idea propagated by editorials like this one.

There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. It is the patients responsibility to know their copays and coverages. Insurance companies notify plan members, either through group plans provided by the employer or the group administrator and individually through plan publications and mailings of coverages and changes. I've had group plan coverage for over 20 years and I have always received policy coverage and change information promptly. Don't blame the insurance companies for dumb and impatient customers.

If your wait times vary, or tend to be long, put a sign out that informs the customers when they approach the counter what their expected wait time will be. If they don't like it, they can go elsewhere. Each and every customer deserves accurate and exacting service. If that takes time, then it takes time.

The fact is that the patients deserve zero errors on their prescriptions. Zero, not 1 in 1,000,000. If you don't have enough properly trained and qualified staff, then don't fill the prescription. It is as simple as that. If you take money for providing a service and that service kills or sickens someone because you made a mistake, the only one to blame is yourself.

I really don't think 16 yr. olds have any business helping dispense prescriptions.
I also have to say that I've used Kmart pharmacy in my town for over 15 years. Their pharmacists are overworked, but are always willing to take time to answer questions. They do have assistants helping them, but I've never seen one as young as 16!!
And yes, I've had to sign that I understand the doctor's directions & have gotten any questions (if any) answered.

Some of the above posts seem to require clarification. For one, mistakes in pharmacy can (and do) happen in EVERY pharmacy in the world. The only way to truly eliminate these errors would be to remove the drugs. Also, there are many pharmacy techs who are very well trained (some with college degrees). In response to one post, the VAST majority of pharmacists worked as pharmacy techs prior to pharmacy school. Also, pharmacy licences are not granted without many hours of work in pharmacy practice. Unless individuals begin to take a more proactive role in their own health care, it would be impossible to see dramatic change. If you want to criticize pharmacists, nurses, doctors, etc. you sould at least know what medicine you are talking about (as opposed to saying "for a foot fungus").

Just yesterday i was given the wrong dose of a anti-depressent medication at a CVS. I gave my presciptions to a teenage-appearing worker at the drive in window. The bottle was a sealed month's supply from the manufacturer. The pharmacy label and warnings completly covered up the label, so this mistake was not realized by me until i opened the bottle and the wrong pill fell into my hand. How can a pharmasist double check when all the external information is covered? He just has to trust the child who gave it to him. On top of that, another needed prescription that I had refilled was not even included! My husband picked up the medication for me, so he did not know which one was missing. This is one area where adults should be in charge, not children, so these mistakes are less likely to happen. Really, 18 or 21 should be the minimum for working with medications that could kill someone or harm them gravely if dispensed incorrectly.

As a certified pharmacy technician, I found this very disturbing. I've worked in 2 different pharmacies, one small and family owned, the other a larger chain and the pharmacist is always the last one to check the prescription. I think anyone who works as a pharmacy tech should have the proper training and certification. I received my certification only after I passed a test for each part of my training. I enjoy being a pharmacy tech and articles like this give the the good ones a bad name.

In response to a previous comment about pharmacists getting experience prior to graduation, I would like to point out that is currently the case. For anyone who graduates from a School of Pharmacy, they must complete a PharmD program, which includes at least of year of practical experience, similar to an internship. For all states, a person must have a certain number of hours in practical experience prior to even being considered for getting a pharmacist's license.

The FDA should be involved in how prescriptions are filled in the U.S. and by all means a high school student should not be given the responsibilty of such an important job..

To RENA, I am a Certified Pharmacy Technician with 13 years of experience and the test your son studied for is NOT a joke and is very difficult. Apparently you are unaware that COSTCO is a retail pharmacy. I also work in a retail pharmacy and the biggest problem that ABC has not addressed is that there is a SHORTAGE of pharmacists in this country and they RELY on Pharmacy Technicians for help in filling a prescription. If you want to balk at 10 minutes, then it will take all day for a Pharmacist to fill the 600 Rx's we fill a day, if he had to key them in and fill them alone. Not to mention ERRORS, they would be all over the place, due to FATIGUE! Just because this one girl made a mistake doesn't mean that the rest of us are idiots and should not be filling prescriptions. And if you want experienced technicians, they have to start somewhere, and if you keep increasing their pay to a level that they can live off of, you might see that you get a better employee that is more accurate. Another thing, a Pharmacist is not GOD and GOD is the only one who is not allowed to make mistakes.

The biggest thing missing from this story is this: There is a huge shortage of pharmacists in the country. In a time where people are living longer, and a pharmacy is opening up on every corner, there is simply not enough staff to cover all of these stores. I used to work at a major pharmacy chain in Minneapolis. The staff shortage got so bad, that we had to fly pharmacists in from other parts of the country (all at overtime, and huge cost) to help staff the stores, and in some cases, close some pharmacies early, or open late, due to a lack of pharmacist. With the pool or experienced registered pharmacists spread so thin, these stores have no choice but to have pharmacy techs do more and more work. And errors unfortunately will happen.

lets look at the real reason high school kids work in retail pharmacy.the insurance companies have squeezed any profits left out of drug stores to line there pockets leaving pharmacies who need help running there businesses with the cheapest labor the law allows. no wonder america wake up-jl rph

I had a recent experience liek this. Except, the pharmacy technician at Rite-Aid clicked all my buttons in those electronic boxes. So, I never even had a chance to ask the pharmacist questions about my drugs! I will never be returning to Rite-Aid. Target has been very good about the pharmacist checking me out and telling me what I need to know!

For someone who has no idea what goes on in the pharmacy department, it's very easy for them to look and point fingers at what goes wrong. People make mistakes. Everyone does-we're all human. It's absolutely no excuse for fatal accidents or even small mistakes, but there is alot of pressure from the general public when they walk into a pharmacy and get upset because the wait time is not as short as they'd like it to be and every 5 minutes there is that customer that keeps asking, "is mine ready yet?". Or the customer whose co-pay has increased, unbeknownced to them becasue they ignore what paperwork is sent to them from their insurance company. Something isn't covered, something requires a prior authorization, something isn't clear on the rx, no reills, rx expired...the list goes on and on and the patient always askes the pharmacy, "will you call for me". They rarely take any responsibility to look at their own bottle and see that they need to contact the Dr. for their next fill. This all adds extra pressure to those behind the pharmacy counter. So before you point your fingers at us for the mistake that are made because of the pressure to do things quickly, how about helping us out a bit and call your Dr. yourself for once.

The picture of the young girl, who entered the prescription information incorrectly, is misrepresenting the truth behind the story. By displaying her picture, the individual coordinating the information is placing the blame on the young girl. She is a technician, who operated under the license of a pharmacist. The pharmacist is responsible for the error. The real story behind this horrible accident is that the pharmacist failed to check to be certain the technician did in fact enter the information correctly. In addition, the pharmacist should have visited with the customer to discuss the medication. Ten times the dosage of Coumadin is excessive and should have been caught.

Do not jump to conclusions again. We need to know why the pharmacist did not catch the error. Not enough other licensed pharmacists to cover the prescription load? Inadequate technology? There are several reasons, and within these reasons is an answer that hides as details but holds all the strength of truth.

ABC,

Can humans ever be perfect? Even your computer or a bar coded system is still prone to error. With 500 million events such as filling prescriptions some errors would be expected. That would still be true of even trained personnel.
Although no level of error is "acceptable," it is essential that continuing review of established protocols be done with the aim at reducing such error in the future. A report on those efforts would add meaning to any expose of the system.
Professionally,
Fred Teichman, M.D.

As a former Walgreens employee I myself was called many times to the pharmacy to assist at the counter for pickups. I never counted pills or saw customer info.

The media makes money of ratings. They need to sensationalize their stories. Health care, including pharmacy, is like any other business in Americia. It is here to make a profit. If the public has a 401K or stocks, I bet some of them are in health care including pharmacy. If the public wants safety, require pharmacies and hospitals and insurance companies to post what they do to ensure saftey and be ready to pay for it. Blame and hype does nothing to resolve the issue.

Did you know when u have a perscription filled the company isn't responsible for in incorrect filling. My daughter was given the wrong meds and suffered a Grand Mal seizure. Not only was she hospitalized she also suffered long term affects. Who is responsible...Rite Aid said they aren't....the pharmacists aren't...so who is? My daughter is now 24 years old an has a handicap that is long term.