I recently called my physician's office and asked that my prescriptions be renewed. My phsycian's nurse called my pharmacy and renewed my medications for three months. My pharmacy emailed me and I picked up a month's supply of my medications.

Two days after I had picked up my meds I was in the process of taking my daily dosage of each of three different drugs. One of drugs I take is always given to me in the manufacturers container. While opening the bottle's tamper seal located under the srew on cap I noticed that the prescription label placed on the bottle by my pharmacy said that the medication was 30 mg tablets. My prescription, for the past three years, for this medication has been for 15 mg tablets once a day. I called my pharmacy and was informed that my physician's nurse had faxed over the renewal prescription two days prior and that the renewed prescription called for 30 mg tablets.

I called my physician's office and explained my problem. I told the receptionist that I believed that my prescription had been renewed incorrectly and that I was out of the medication and was supposed to take it once a day. The receptionist told me that she would have the nurse that handled the renewal call me. Six hours later I called back and asked to speak to the nurse. She came on the phone and suggested that she would check my chart and get back to me. I informed her that I would wait on the phone while she accomplished this task. She came back and informed me that she would call my pharmacy and renew the prescription for 15 mg tablets. I thanked her and asked who was going to pay for the bottle of 30 mg pills that I had opened that morning. She suggested that I should work that out with the pharmacy. I told her that the pharmacy was not at fault and that I felt that either she or my physician should compensate me for the mistake. She suggested that I use the 30 mg tablets and just cut them in half. I informed her that the medication in questions was a very small tablet, actually about 1/3 the size of an aspirin tablet, and that the tablet was not scored down the middle, as many larger tablets are. She informed me that she could not do anything more for me.

No apology. No acknowledgement of her mistake.

I asked her to have my physician call me. The next day my physician called and was very curt and quite aggressive. He informed me that I should cut the 30 mg tablets in half and use them. I reiterated the problem with the size of the tablets in question. He told me that cutting them in half was my only option. I told him that was unacceptable to me. I also said that I really did not want to take his nurse to court to get compensation. My physician then went off on me and told me that if that were the case he would dictate a letter to me stating that because I had ignored his directions and advice over the last ten years he would no longer serve as my physician.

I consider my physician's instructions and directions to be advice that I pay for. Whether I accept and follow said advice is my decision.

My question is: Am I wrongin this? Is my physician's response to this situation ethical?

Thanks in advance.

I don't really know the answer to this. It sure sounds like you should contact the regulating authorities for both physicians and possibly nurses and tell your story though! Are you sure it was a nurse who made the error? It could have been the physician (I imagine he would have to approve it before she could call it in) and/or office staff?

I do know, partly from working in a pharmacy for awhile many years ago, that mistakes happen ALL the time. Everyone should ALWAYS read their labels, compare their medications and question anything that doesn't seem right.

Didi

Your physician is afraid of a malpractice suit and is trying to intimidate you. At least that's what I suspect.

On the other hand, you can get pill splitters at any pharmacy for about $5 that will split even the smallest pill. So I don't think the physician's instructions were unreasonable.

But I think his attitude was. I agree he should have been more considerate and helpful.

How much was the prescription? Was it really enough to make such a fuss over?