Two days ago I took my daughter to the doctor for a very painful earache. The doctor gave me a prescription of Ceftin. I took it to walmart to have it filled. When I got home the medicine was so thick, that I had to take a straw and scrape it out of the bottle and put it into a measuring spoon and mix with water before my daughter could suck it up with a straw. I didn't think it looked right. As soon as she ingested it she began to throw up. I felt so bad because anyone with children knows you nearly have to force it down anyway when it is bitter. I called the prescribing the doc next morning to see if it was normal for that medicine to be so thick. They said it is thick but should pour from the bottle. I took it to the office and they looked at it and said they didn't think it should be like that. I called the pharmacy at walmart and they said bring it back we will replace it! I said I don't want it replaced it made her terribly ill. They tried to justify it and say it had been checked three times. I don't care if it was checked ten times, it was mixed wrong. I asked them for the medicine back and went up the road to another pharmacy and showed it to them. The pharmacist there said it was definitely mixed wrong. What makes me so angry is walmart's refusal to acknowledge that it was wrong and trying to keep the medicine. Does anyone know the best way to launch a complaint about that pharmacy? It's one thing to mess up but to deny and hide it is dangerous when dealing with medicine. Thank you

Contact a lawyer, pharmacies have malpractice insurance.

I agree call a lawyer there is no excuse for making an error on someone's medication

Do you have any idea how to preserve the medication in case it might take awhile to have it checked?

Ask your doctor about that.

I have no idea most likley you can keep it in the fridge. A lot of medications last longer in the fridge but I'm not sure!

Thank you all!

I am very sorry for yours and your daughter's misfortune.

I will say to keep it in the fridge, however, that will not keep it from expiring and going bad. Many of these meds only have a life of 10 days after being mixed with the distilled water.

Now, as far as filing a complaint you may be best to contact Walmarts Headquarters. I doubt that you have a malpractice case as there was no permanent damage done. So, when you do contact an attorney make sure you get the free consultation as this will cost you major money in the long run.

In WaMart's defense, they probably have rules on how to deal with situations like these to minimize their risk of litigation. I'm sure their pharmacy employees felt very bad about the mistake, but they had to follow the company policy or lose their jobs.

On the bright side, your daughter did not appear to be materially harmed. So you can do one of two things. You can contact a lawyer as I suggested, or you can send a letter to walmart, telling them that you want an apology and reasonable compensation or you will contact an attorney. If they offer you anything in 4 figures, take it!

And, of course, there is a possibility that the problem was the doctor's, not the pharmacy's. It sounds like the medicine was not diluted enough, and that could be a result of the doctor's handwriting... something like a 5x dilution looking like a 2x, for example. At the end of the day, mistakes do happen, no matter how many checks and balances are in the system.

Also, I'm not sure why you think it was wrong for WalMart to want to keep the medicine if they replaced it. It is a prescription drug. And it's pretty normal if something is wrong with a product to take the bad one back and give the buyer a new one. If they replaced your medicine, they are much better suited to deal with properly disposing of the bad batch. It's not the kind of thing that should just be thrown away in the trash.

And finally, for everyone out there, if you are ever given a drug that just doesn't look right... try and get in touch with the doctor (or go back to the pharmacy) before you take it. Doctor's handwriting is difficult to read, especially when they start using abbreviations, and there are lots of drugs with very similar names. Ask your doctor what you are getting, try and get the proper spelling of it, and ask what it should look like. That way you can double-check that what you get is actually what the doctor prescribed.

This public service announcement brought to you by the letter E and the number 8. :)

I am not so sure that this would have helped the op. But my solution may help someone else out. I have a child that has a kidney disease and he took many meds and was hospitialized sometimes 30 days at a time, I have seen pharmacys,hospitals, home health care make mistakes that have caused cardiac arrest in toddlers. My advice to everyone, is to have the doctor verbally tell you what they are prescribing, how much & how often to take. Also if more than 1 medicine is prescribed know which med is treating what medical problem. I also like to know what the medicine looks like if possible and I check it before I leave the drug store.

NO, the pharmacist told me over the phone, what the dilution should be. It was just what the doctor had on the prescription order. It was neat enough that I could read it. That's rare. I wouldn't let them replace it. I think they wanted to keep it because it was messed up. Why would I want them to replace it when they already messed up on it and it made her so sick. The doctor gave her pills as a replacement and I went to a different pharmacy to get it filled because walmart only had a three day supply and I drive forty five minutes to get there. As I said before I called the pharmacy very first step... was told by a pharmacist that she had no idea because she did not work that day. She said bring it back we will replace it. They have some high schoolers mixing their meds for them. They messed up. We didn't.. It was for Ceftin 250/5 ml. I think with another pharmacy taking a look and verifying something was wrong, proves walmart was wrong.

Yes, you have very vaild points here. However, no permanent damage was done.

If an attorney takes this case, it will be an uphill battle and most likely very costly as I don't see it being taken on a contingency fee basis.

I would also never ever go back to a walmart pharmacy. I hope you get in touch with walmart pharmacy headquarters, also having the other pharmacy confirm that it was a mistake. Keep the medicine preserved. It was good that you did that, bringing it to another pharmacy. By getting walmart to hear your case by contacting them maybe they will change their policies so this does not happen again.

Yes there is not much of a law suit here, no real damage ( and I am glad there was not) she became sick that was about it.
Next and I am not picking on you, I am going to sound like their defense attorney. You noticed it did not look right and did not call or question before you gave it to her. That will be part of their defense.

Also walmart does not "mix" very much, they merely take it out of one large bottle and put in in small bottles, or they take a bottle already mixed and put a label on it. They do not actually make medications.

Not like your local small town drugist that actually still makes their own pills and potions.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Also walmart does not "mix" very much, they merely take it out of one large bottle and put in in small bottles, or they take a bottle already mixed and put a label on it. They do not actually make medications.

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I have to respectfully disagree with you here Chuck. Many of the liquid meds are indeed mixed when the prescription is presented. You see, there are different strengths of meds and the diluent must be added according to the particular prescription as it is written. These meds are in a powdered form and mixed with distilled water upon presentation of the script.

Many of the meds will go bad within a certain time, usually 12 days, after mixed.

So, you are factually incorrect here Chuck.

Call an attorney right away. You should also rule out the possibility that your daughter may be allergic to Ceftin. The pharmacy will no doubt try to argue that that was the real cause for your daughter's illness and throwing up. Ceftin is also available in pill form if your daughter is old enough to swallow pills.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Yes there is not much of a law suit here, no real damage ( and I am glad there was not) she became sick that was about it.
Next and I am not picking on you, I am going to sound like thier defense attorney. You noticed it did not look right and did not call or question before you gave it to her. that will be part of thier defense.

Also walmart does not "mix" very much, they merely take it out of one large bottle and put in in small bottles, or they take a bottle already mixed and put a label on it. They do not actually make medications.

Not like your local small town drugist that actually still makes thier own pills and potions.

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Good point. Most pharmacies nowadays don't actually mix their own medications - they get them directly from the manufacturer.

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Originally Posted by s_cianci

Good point. Most pharmacies nowadays don't actually mix their own medications - they get them directly from the manufacturer.

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YES THEY DO!!

Oral suspensions must be mixed according to the written prescription. Most oral suspensions, especially those of antibiotic nature come in powdered form and must be mixed according to dosage requirements of weight.

No manufacturer knows how much you weigh to pre package their product.

Antibiotics such as this are mixed on an as needed basis ONLY as they tend to expire and/or lose their antibiotic properties within several days.

These products come in powder form and are diluted with distilled water ONLY on an as needed basis.

The young girl that talked to me in the pharmacy... told me they mix the meds when the people come to pick it up and not before. She told me it comes in a powder and is mixed once the person is waiting on the prescription. She is not allergic to the medication ceftin because she is taking it in pill form now... and.. as soon as I got home and noticed it looked too thick I did call the pharmacy.. but they close at seven pm.. so I tried to get a dose in her because she was in a lot of pain with her bad earache... I called first thing next morning after the incident as soon as the pharmacy opened. They were terribly rude and terribly not interested in talking to me. I truly trust pharmacists and I know how they are educated to double check meds for this very reason. Someone simply isn't doing their job and it could cost someone their life. I sure don't want that and I can't stand the thought of it happening to my child either.