CVS/Walgreens Wrong Prescription Lawsuit Investigation

According to the New York Times, there have been many cases of medication mix-ups causing adverse side effects for CVS/Walgreens customers. For one individual,

the medication mix-up meant a pounding headache, nausea and dizziness. In September, Ms. Watrous, a 17-year-old from Connecticut, was about to take another asthma pill when she realized CVS had mistakenly given her blood pressure medication intended for someone else.

The news article reports another case, where a Walgreens customer landed in the emergency room. According to the source,

Edward Walker, 38, landed in an emergency room, his eyes swollen and burning after he put drops in them for five days in November 2018 to treat a mild irritation. A Walgreens in Illinois had accidentally supplied him with ear drops — not eye drops.

While emergency room visits and nausea are far from ideal, the side effects of wrong medications can have dire results. The New York Times reported one woman who died about two weeks after being admitted to the hospital because her pharmacy gave her a powerful chemotherapy drug instead of her prescribed anti-depressants.

Pharmacy Wrong Dosage Error

Prescriptions errors can result in someone getting the wrong prescription, or being given the wrong dosage of their medication. According to the New York Times, the American Psychiatric Association is particularly concerned with CVS, which reportedly ignores doctor’s instructions to dispense only limited amounts of medication to mental health patients. The New York Times reports,

The pharmacy’s practice of providing three-month supplies may inadvertently lead more patients to attempt suicide by overdosing, the association said.

If you have received the wrong medication or dosage of your prescription from CVS, Walgreens, or any other pharmacy, you may have a claim. Speak with a lawyer to learn more.

Pharmacists at companies such as CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens have reportedly described “understaffed and chaotic” workplaces which makes it difficult for them to properly perform their jobs. According to the New York Times, this puts the public at risk of prescription errors. The article quotes a few pharmacists in stating,

“I am a danger to the public working for CVS,” one pharmacist wrote in an anonymous letter to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy in April.

“The amount of busywork we must do while verifying prescriptions is absolutely dangerous,” another wrote to the Pennsylvania board in February. “Mistakes are going to be made and the patients are going to be the ones suffering.”

Many of these pharmacists may be afraid to speak up out of fear of losing their jobs, states the New York Times. This may cause a huge problem for pharmacy customers, who are at risk of mediation errors. Further, people who are given the wrong medication often have trouble contacting the pharmacy to revert the error. If this happened to you, we may be able to help.