my mom went to the pharmacy monday after going to her eye doctor and picked up her script. she took the eye drops and her eyes swelled shut. she had no idea why. she called the pharmacy and they mentioned nothing about her being allergic to asprin and she shouldn't have taken it. the pharmacist asked her if anyone talked to her before giving her the med and she said they didn't. she told me if they did tell her it had asprin or nsaid's she wouldn't have accepted it. my mom is allergic to asprin to the point of anaphalyxis. this is all over her chart. when my dad went to the pharmacy never did they mention she shouldn't have taken those drops because they have nsaids in them. the pharmacy asked how bad her eyes are and my dad told them that it looked like he beat her and she had no brusies. my husband had to look it up on the internet and it said plain as day she shouldn't take them because of her asprin allergy. she took benadryl as per her md instructions, and the next day she went back to the eye doctor.
she went to the eye doctor yesterday and they gave her steriod drops and new antihistamine drops. her eyes are so red and sore. i feel so bad for her.
i am just so mad that they didn't bother to call her eye doctor and tell him to perscribe something else. i am also a little steamed at the eye doctor for the fact that this allergy is all over her chart. she had no issues ever since she found out she had this allergy over 15 years ago. now she feels total distrust in her doctor and pharmacy. i really wish our pharmacy had never closed. we had the best pharmacist. i told her to find out where she is working and go there. sad thing is she just updated her allergies a month ago with walgreens. isn't that why they take your phone number to call you and inquire about any issues with perscriptions. i know we all make mistakes, but jeez they should have told her asprin was in them when she called, or when my dad went there. i think a mistake is better if you own up to it rather than try to cover it.
Sometimes the error comes in the pt's listing of the reaction of the allergy. For example, in our facility, we would give a med the pt lists as an allergy if the allergy isn't a true allergy, but rather a side effect. Like GI upset, which is oftentimes the result of the route. I would definitely talk to the pt, though, and let them know why we are giving it and why the pharmacist and doc feel it is safe to give.
I've given things that people claim to be allergic to, with no ill effect. Like the allergies "I'm allergic to all abx because they give me a yeast infection" or "nitro gives me a headache". Rashes are not always indications of allergy, and a lot of people do not take appropriate abx because they "got a rash" once, maybe, when they were 3, but actually they can't really remember what the reaction was, maybe they threw up? They don't know, and their mom is not around to tell them.
I'm not saying this was the case in the OP's situation; I agree that there were many at fault in that situation.
However, I would like to point out the importance of a COMPLETE documentation of allergy. Not just asking the pt "Do you have an allergy to any food or medication?" but also following up with "When did this occur?" and "What sort of reaction did you have?" Every nurse needs to do this with every pt when updating allergies.
My mom is going to call corporate for Walgreens and file a complaint against the pharmacist. My mom has already complained to the doctor's office. It is now on her chart that she is to have NOTHING with ASA/NSAIDS even if topical or eyedrops.
My mom has told me that the next time she is in the hospital that she wants me or my brother at her bedside to help prevent an error like this from occuring. She would want us to be able to look up any med she is given. She is terrified now of anything new and I don't blame her. Especially since this should have never happened.
The sad thing about this is that the Doc will just shrug it off, perhaps be a little more careful next time but will get off scott free like they always do. The pharmacist will get a reprimand and a black mark on his/her record. Since they were both equally guilty it does not seem fair. If a nurse had been involved and had administered the med she would have been fired and reported to the BON. The punishment always seems to be in inverse relationship to the quilt in medicine.
My mom did say that she no longer trusts this eye doctor and is changing to someone else ASAP. She was seeing them since at one eye checkup they were worried about her developing glaucoma due to increased ocular pressures. She asked me about the new doc and I did say that I saw him once and he always was the consulted eye doc at one of the hospitals I worked at.
She is going to write a letter to the eye doctor office and tell them how she feels when she cools down about it.
I don't know if there was a nurse involved or not.
queenjean
951 Posts
Sometimes the error comes in the pt's listing of the reaction of the allergy. For example, in our facility, we would give a med the pt lists as an allergy if the allergy isn't a true allergy, but rather a side effect. Like GI upset, which is oftentimes the result of the route. I would definitely talk to the pt, though, and let them know why we are giving it and why the pharmacist and doc feel it is safe to give.
I've given things that people claim to be allergic to, with no ill effect. Like the allergies "I'm allergic to all abx because they give me a yeast infection" or "nitro gives me a headache". Rashes are not always indications of allergy, and a lot of people do not take appropriate abx because they "got a rash" once, maybe, when they were 3, but actually they can't really remember what the reaction was, maybe they threw up? They don't know, and their mom is not around to tell them.
I'm not saying this was the case in the OP's situation; I agree that there were many at fault in that situation.
However, I would like to point out the importance of a COMPLETE documentation of allergy. Not just asking the pt "Do you have an allergy to any food or medication?" but also following up with "When did this occur?" and "What sort of reaction did you have?" Every nurse needs to do this with every pt when updating allergies.