My husband was given antibiotics he is allergic to by the pharmacy..?
My husband needed medicine for an ulcer {H Pylori}. The script was called in by the doctors office and when I went to fill it I was asked if he had any allergies and I said yes to penicillin. She wrote this info down along with insurance etc. The meds came in a box with multiple bubble packets. I gave him the firts dose and within an hour he was covered in hives and wheezing. He spent 6 hours in the ER because one of those meds was amoxicillin. We did ask for and got refunded the $30 co-pay but we also now have a $50 ER co-pay and other expenses. Is this something worth pursuing? We did contact the doc's office who, of course, passed the blame to the pharmacy. The doc is fully aware of his allergy. I am angry because their carelessness could have killed him. He is fine now but we sure did have a bad evening!!
Answers:
if the doctor was aware of the reaction to Penicilin and still prescribed Amoxicilin, then he should be held accountable. frequently, the pharmacist substitutes. In which case, s/he should call the doctor and record the permission. If that happened, then the doctor is once again responsible. If the pharmacist did not take permission and substituted, then the pharmacist is accountable. There is the broader issue if the pharmacist did not double check with the doctor (since you told him/her that your husband is allergic to Penicilin.) The primary responsibility still lies with doctor. The Pharmacist can be held resposible as an ancillary.
I'm not saying that you shoukd sue them for big bucks (you may be able to), but you should definitely lodge a protest and recover all your expenses along with a reasonable restitution for the time lost (and may be for the sheer anguish.)
Did they in fact give him Penicillin?
Or is he just allergic to the antibiotic he was given?
Did the pharmacy give him something other than what was prescribed?
Was the prescription mislabeled when you received it?
1. The doc prescribed the drug. It is NOT the pharmacy's job to go against a doc. It is the doc's job to know what they are doing.
2. People who are allergic to penicillin can sometimes take a synthetic cillin. Just consider yourself lucky nothing works happened.
Honestly, I would contact the insurance company. Your bill may have been $50, but theirs was higher. They may want to file against the insurance company or doctor if they feel there is a case there -- and they would probably know.
Also, try contacting a Medical Malpractice Attorney. They take on cases on a contingent fee basis usually -- if they won't take it on contingency, then the case is not worth pursuing.
Finally, even if yo decide that the cost and time involved in a suit is not worth it, you may want to contact the AMA (American Medical Association) and file a complaint against both the Dr. and the pharmacy.
Finally, you need to be aware -- the next time he could die. IF a medication ends in cillin -- ASK. If the instructions say "antibiotic" anyplace -- ASK. You and your husband need to take some responsibility too to prevent anything from happening as people do make mistakes. ALSO read the instructions with EVERY medication you take -- it usually states "Do not take this if you have an allergy to . . ."
Honestly, it is more the doctor's fault than the pharmacy. Amoxicillin is in the same class as, but not, Penicillin. There is always a chance of "cross-sensitivity". The Doctor should have known better!!, but the Pharmacist also should have explained the risk of cross-sensitivity. I think you have a case against both parties. (unless the pharmacist DID mention cross-sensitivity, and information sheets usually come with rx's these days that would have pointed out that danger) Good luck and I am glad your hubby is well!
It was not the pharmacy's fault. Amoxicillin is not penicillin. It is a semi-synthetic penicillin derivative with a broader range of effectiveness. People who are allergic to penicillin are NOT necessarily allergic to amoxicillin. There is about 5% cross-sensitivity between penicillin derivaties. This means that about 5% of the people who are allergic to penicillin will also be allergic to amoxicillin.
Because of this potential for cross-sensitivity among people who are allergic to penicillin, doctors are expected to be cautious in prescribing any penicillin derivative to a person with a penicillin allergy. The degree of caution depends on the severity of the person's reaction to penicillin. If the person previously had a life-threatening reaction to penicillin, then a doctor should not prescribe any penicillin derivate to that person (such as amoxicillin) because of the risk of a serious allergic reaction.
On the other hand, if the original reaction to penicillin was relatively minor and not life-threatening, then the general practice is to go ahead and prescribe the amoxicillin since there is a 95% chance that there will be no allergy. There are many people who are allergic to penicillin but who take amoxicillin regularly.
It is expected, from the pharmacy's point of view, that the doctor who prescribed the medicine has considered all of these factors and has made an intelligent decision.
Now, if you had told the pharmacy that your husband, specifically, was allergic to amoxicillin and they went ahead and dispensed a prescription w/ amoxicillin in it, the pharmacy would have been negligent.
However, if the pharmacy was not informed of a specific allergy to amoxicillin, then they did nothing wrong by filling the doctor's prescription.
The doc and the pharmacy both dropped the ball on this one. You could ask the doctor to refund the ER co-pay. If the pharmacy is a small private store,you could talk to the owner. I once had a drug error from a large chain type pharmacy,and they gave $100 for the mistake,even though there was no harm done. They probably had some kind of policy to do that,and by my accepting their money,relieved them of any litigation down the road. $50 is not worth the headache or expense of suing. Also keep in mind that the doctor and pharmacist had no intent of harming your husband,but being human sometimes means making stupid mistakes.Your husband should always be extra careful before taking a new prescription to make sure there are no penicillin components in the drug-especially antibiotics.The patent for Amoxicillin has run out,so the drug is marketed under a lot of other names now.
I don't blame you for being angry. They certainly were careless & I wonder did either of them apologize? I bet not. It started with your dr. not bothering to look into your husbands file to see if he had any allergies before writing a script for amoxicillin then to your pharmacist who did ask if he had allergies & wrote down on the script what it was but then went on to fill 1 that he was allergic to. Then your dr. put the blame entirely on the pharmacist but it did start in his office. Just unfortunately ended with the pharmacist filling the script. I'd report them both. Why do drs keep medical files & pharmacists have computers or write down notes on scripts if they don't refer to them?! I realize they are human but notes, computers & files are there to help then with their very important jobs so they don't make these very serious mistakes. My son is allergic to penicillin & I know what you & your husband went thru. It's not fun at all & yes it could have killed your husband. I wld be furious with my dr. & pharmacist over this.
It would appear that both the doctor and the pharmacist breached their duty and are liable for any harm they caused. The real issue is how much harm was caused and what is it worth in terms of dollars. As I said, based on the facts you relay each is liable. Both should know better than to provide amox to a PCN allergic patient unless there was a damn good reason for it AND each gave informed consent regarding the potential for what ultimately happened.
I fear that this will not be a big "payday" for your husband. It might be and accordingly, you should consult an attorney. However, at a minimum, you might consider small claims court to seek damages in the amount you spent in ER costs. Additionally, you should report the behavior of each to their respective licensing boards (state medical board and state pharmacy board).
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