Woman claims pharmacy error led to death of her daughter

In a world where medications are readily available for almost every ailment, it’s often necessary to trust the health care professionals who prescribe the medication and the Pennsylvania pharmacy employees who package and provide the medicine. A dosage mistake on certain medications may quickly become fatal, and it may be important for pharmacies to have procedures in place to prevent mistakes from happening. Although these mistakes may easily be avoided, they are still known to happen way too often.

A six year old girl suffering from sickle cell anemia was given ten times the dosage of morphine than was advised for her age and size, and the incorrect dosage led to her death. Her mother recently filed a lawsuit against the pharmacy that filled the medication, although her lawyer claims she is focused on preventing the error from happening again rather than on getting money for her daughter’s death.

The lawyer for the pharmacy would not comment on the case, although the pharmacy did attempt to settle before the case went to court. According to the mother’s lawyer, negotiations ended when the pharmacy implied the girl’s death was from her blood disorder rather than from the wrong dose of medication.

The case was originally investigated as a criminal one in which law enforcement officials were concerned the mother had given her child too much medication, adding to the devastation she was already feeling. Whether the mistake occurred because of carelessness or was an honest mistake, the death of a child has affected a mother who hopes to inspire change with her lawsuit.

Source: ABC News, “Mom sues pharmacy after daughter’s final overdose,” Katie Moisse, August 22, 2013