Man says Wal-Mart pharmacy mistake nearly destroyed his life

http://www.khou.com/news/walmart-pharmacy-mistake-85102222.html


LAKE JACKSON, Texas— A man claims a Wal-Mart pharmacy gave him the wrong medication and it cost him dearly.

“I’ve lost my job because of this and lost my ability to trust my pharmacy,” said Todd Beathard.

The lifelong bipolar patient said taking medication is a way of life. Beathard relies on an anti-psychotic medication called Seroquel to help regulate his moods. Last year, his doctor wrote him a new prescription decreasing his dosage.

Beathard claims a Wal-Mart pharmacy mistakenly gave him an anti-depressant called Sertraline instead.

“And all I could do for six months is just stare at the walls and sleep,” he said.

Eventually he stopped working and confronted his doctor about his condition. That’s when he says he discovered the mistake.

“I’m just so frustrated about this,” Beathard said.

IT TOOK SIX MONTHS????
Im finding this hard to swallow...........how many refills did his DR give him?
You could see them screwing up & giving him the wrong meds ONE time but for 6 months????:snooty: Im not buying this!!!!!!!!

Seroquel pills are tiny, and Sertraline pills (Zoloft) are large, similar to calcium tablets. He knew that he was getting a decreased dosage, how did he not immediately recognize the mistake?







ETA: my mom is on a number of Parkinson's and other meds, and the pharmacy has made errors, they do happen. I know a patient who was mistakenly given cancer treatment meds that caused permanent damage, so I'm not dismissing how serious mistakes made by a pharmacy can be.

For sure Mistakes at pharmacies do happen. I had it happen to me 2x now, instead of blood pressure pills, they gave me something else, but I immediately noticed, because of the name on the pills, was not right. I think we all must be our own advocates on this, and many other things in life, and STOP blaming everyone else. Yes, that means spending more time, check your meds, even before leaving the pharmacy., MOST pharmacists are overworked and underpaid., as most pharmacies don't want to pay for more help, the almighty dollar is the bottom line. Be your own advocate, and be on the front end of helping ourselves.

VespaElf said:

IT TOOK SIX MONTHS????
Im finding this hard to swallow...........how many refills did his DR give him?
You could see them screwing up & giving him the wrong meds ONE time but for 6 months????:snooty: Im not buying this!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

I know that with my setraline I get an rx for 6 months supply, but it's not like get them all in one go! I have to go back each month for a new supply. And they're not likely to give someone with bipoloar six months worth of meds, because they could use it to OD. If they did- it would be extremely negligent.

This makes no sense, unless 1. It was actually the doc who rxed the wrong med or 2. The docs handwriting was so poor that they mistook seroquel for setraline, so he continued to be given the wrong med throughout those 6 months.
What I find weird is that seroquel is more likely to make a pt to be excessively tired and sleepy the way he describes- unless he was just going through withdrawals from the seroquel.
I wonder if he was given the package as uploaded by Lexiintoronto (thanks) or
if they were in one of those generic pill bottles?
Even if he didn't notice the difference in the tablet itself, surely he would have noticed the different packaging.:waitasec:
Does anyone here know if walmart uses packets or pill bottles? I'm in Oz, so I have no idea.

JMO

ETA:
http://www.psychdrugtruth.com/seroquel_withdrawal.htm

Seroquel withdrawal - Insomnia – Not able to fall asleep or sleeping for a shorter time than desired, thus not being able to properly rest and feeling un-refreshed. As a result, a person can become irritable, have difficulty concentrating and feel a lack of energy. This can be caused by stimulants such as by caffeine or drugs or by mental anxiety and stress. Mental stress can be communicated and relieved.

Click to expand...

I just googled walmart pharmacy zoloft in images and found this:
http://images.google.com.au/imgres?...l=en&sa=X&rlz=1T4GGLL_enAU358AU358&tbs=isch:1

Looks like they do use the proper packaging with the blister pack. Can anyone confirm for me?
TIA

I have a script for Tramadol that I get at Target. A couple months ago, DH picked up a refill, and a few days later when I went to open it I noticed right away the pills (in a bottle) were larger and round as opposed to small ovals. I looked on line and found nothing, then I called Target and talked to a pharmacist who assured the drug was indeed Tramadol, that they had changed suppliers (of the generic) and the shape and size was different. Before I take anything I check, especially if the pill changes.

Walmart uses both bottles and packages. I get different packaging every month on the same presciptions. They go back and forth.

Most of the time, in the case of changes in suppliers of drugs, the pharmacist will notify you of the change in the appearance of the medication. As a precaution, if something doesn't look like it did before, I always ask my pharmacist or doctor.

I constantly tell my friends and family we need to be diligent patients...don't be afraid to ask questions when something doesn't sit right with you. It's our responsibility to our health!

BTW...I do work in healthcare so I know many people don't and won't question their doctor or other healthcare provider.

I don't get my scripts at Walmart, but when I get scripts filled, it always says on the bottle what it is, what it is the genaric for, and what the pill should look like. If all those match what I know I'm supposed to get, then I'm good to go. I don't remember what pharmacy it was, but I had a friend who was on an extended release pill for bi-polar. It seemed the meds weren't working and my friend felt "off". After much pushing to talk to the doctor, it was learned the pharmacy/insurance had switched my friend to the generic brand, which was NOT extended release. The friend knew it was switching to generic, but did not realize it wouldn't remain extended release. Once my friend went back on the name brand, extended release version, everything was fine.

about 5 years ago our Walmart pharmacy didn't mix our son's medicine correctly-they actually asked us how they could fix it-like they could pay us off not to say anything. We just alerted them to the fact the medicine was wroung. They freaked. Now I hear more and more of this going on. Maybe we should have made a stink about it. Looks like they would work on the issue and start making sure the meds are right.