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| No. 10 | 
Sep 14, 2009, 06:35 PM
 re: Pharmacist gets 6 months in prison for med error
I dont know how the US legal system works but in Australia this wouldn't be tried in a criminal court - there was no intent to harm (as far as I can tell, anyway.) It would be a civil matter - medical negligence, or something or the like, for which jail time etcetc is NOT a punishment for.
 | | Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 12 |
Sep 14, 2009, 07:41 PM
Updated
Sep 14, 2009 at 07:42 PM by Higgs
re: Pharmacist gets 6 months in prison for med error Originally Posted by rachelgeorgina  I dont know how the US legal system works but in Australia this wouldn't be tried in a criminal court - there was no intent to harm (as far as I can tell, anyway.) It would be a civil matter - medical negligence, or something or the like, for which jail time etcetc is NOT a punishment for.
...It's all about revenge not punishment.
Agree with the post about too much reliance on computer systems too. Management seem to think they are great and will solve all problems. As if...
| | No. 13 |
Sep 14, 2009, 07:44 PM
re: Pharmacist gets 6 months in prison for med error
I posted a similar comment a few years back when 3 nurses were held on crimnal charges for a med error that led to the death of an infant...There was no criminal intent. This case should have ended (at most) with the loss of license and livelihood of the responsible professional. To criminalize honest human error (with no malice or intent) is wrong and will drive professionals from the field.
Unlike an actual criminal, incarceration is unecessary, as the the public is not at risk from this individual who cannot practice without a license. Should he be prevented from further practice? Possbily. Should he pay damages to the family? Yes. Should he be jailed? No. I suspect this has much more to do with a judge or prosecuter making a name for himself than actual public protection.
| | No. 14 |
Sep 14, 2009, 07:52 PM
re: Pharmacist gets 6 months in prison for med error Originally Posted by nerdtonurse? One night, we had an unscheduled computer outage (my small hospital does not have a 24 hr pharmacy, and this was like 3 am). From years in the computer field, I always print out my meds for the whole 12 hour shift, and assume the computers will go down at the worst possible time. Several of my coworkers, who only printed out the meds until the beginning of the midnight to 7 shift, suddenly didn't know what meds were due for their patients. IS did a "whuh happened?" and we didn't have an idea of when the system would be back. We all sat down and started going thru the charts, trying to figure out what was due -- not that big a deal for a new admission, but a freakin' nightmare for folks who have been on the floor for 2 weeks. Worse, lab was calling us wanting to know who needed what labs -- we had cardiac enzymes due on several pts. Luckily, the computer was only down 2 hours, and nothing bad happened, but I don't think "civilians" recognize how dependent we are on all too fragile technology.
Back in my old world, computers went down, all the users got a break. In a hospital/lab/pharmacy, the computers go down, and lives can be lost. As an industry, we really, REALLY need to have more robust systems than we do.
Ah, yes...with dependable back up!!
| | No. 15 |
Sep 14, 2009, 08:15 PM
re: Pharmacist gets 6 months in prison for med error
What a disgrace that this man is getting jail time. Horrifying.
He was working short staffed with no computer system. I bet he wishes now he had turned around and gone back home instead of doing his best and trying to work through a bad situation. He is now doing jail time and owes a lot of money for something with no malicious intent. Pathetic.
| | No. 16 |
Sep 14, 2009, 11:01 PM
Re: Pharmacist gets 6 months in prison for med error Originally Posted by Moogie
The bill was introduced, referred to committee and did not make it out of committee. 
This is all so wrong in so many ways. How on earth can industries---like retail pharmacy chains---that are supposed to be serving the needs of people be against legislation that would PROTECT people? Wouldn't legislation mandating educational standards for people preparing medications actually save the pharmacy chains money in the long run by decreasing the chances that those technicians will make costly mistakes---for which the companies should be sued?
Because raising the standards and regulating education = higher costs for the chains in salaries and education benefits.
Chain pharmacies don't give a rat's about the customer/patient - that's where having a good pharmacist is the difference.
| | No. 18 |
Sep 15, 2009, 07:34 AM
re: Pharmacist gets 6 months in prison for med error
I'm not sure what is meant by "this error and the string of errors that followed" that resulted in this revocation of his license. Sounds like removing this man from practice was very important.
However, making a pharmacy error and a med error shouldn't be tried as homicide.
| | No. 19 |
Sep 15, 2009, 08:33 AM
re: Pharmacist gets 6 months in prison for med error
I agree with everyone that this was about retribution. It's also a timely reminder to us all that if anyone says "this doesn't look/sound/feel right" it's worth taking a moment to double check.
I also have a question. We make up most of our meds on the wards (TPN and chemo are the main exceptions), and seem to be far less computer-dependant than some of you (if our computers went down I'd check the drug chart to see what was due), so this might sound stupid - how did it get mixed with 23.whatever% saline? What would that concentration be used for? I've only seen 0.45% (alone or with dextrose), 0.9% and 3% but like I said, wed on't have premixing.
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