[splitimage]

I believe I'm an informed consumer when it comes to my meds. I discuss them with my pdoc, and know exactly what dose I'm on daily.

I take 40 mg of Celexa once daily, so I get 40 mg tablets.

I picked up a prescription refill on Fri., and didn't bother looking at the label closely because I could see they were the right pills. Imagine my shock when I got home, and discovered the label said take 2 tablets daily. 80 mg of Celexa daily over the course of a month would most likely lead to liver toxicity or severe cardiac problems.

So I took my bottle in with me, to the pharmacy today and showed the pharmacist and told her it was supposed to be once daily. She pulled up the scanned record of the script from my pdoc and sure enough it said 1 tablet daily. She was horrified at the mistake and completely apologetic.

I'm just glad that I'm an informed consumer, because normally this pharmacy is very reliable.

So just saying, it pays to double check the bottles before you leave the pharmacy.

splitimage

[Nammu]

That's good advice, I never do and I've never noticed anyone else checking either. The pharmacy puts them in a bag and staples it shut before handing it over.

Thanks for this. I've had serious errors happen a couple of times, too. If you take the same med for a long time and use the same pharmacy, it can be easy to get into the habit of not looking at the bottle closely when you get a refill.

[Travelinglady]

Hi, splitimage. Yes, we can't trust the pharmacy to get everything right. It's good to check before we take the pills home.

[Fresia]

You are so right! Like with my Dad's blood pressure medication. He was taking 10 mg and was increased to 20 mgs. He was taking 2, 10 mg tablets. Did not know the new script was for 20. No one said anything, not the doc, not the pharmacist about the change, and he started filling his pill containers will 2 pills. I check his meds as always and found the 20 on the label; it would have floored him taking 40 mg bottoming out his blood pressure. Brought this to both their attentions as well as a reminder for him but have to check the labels for everything, period.

[BlessedRhiannon]

I've also had issues where the prescription was put in to the system wrong (not scanned, but manually input) and then the original script was thrown away. I've started taking a photo of the original script with my cell phone before I drop it off. Then, when I pick it up, I compare to what my photo says. Some of the pharmacies get so busy that they just don't bother to double check their work.

I don't know if this is only in my country or in the whole world, but here pharmacists (real pharmacists, not the assistants that hand you the meds) are required to check all prescriptions to see if the dosage is right and to check if there are no interactions between 2 drugs one patient takes. They are required to do this before the end of the day. So besides checking the label, I also recommend always waiting one day before you actually take the meds.

[Squirrel1983]

Originally Posted by BlessedRhiannon

I've also had issues where the prescription was put in to the system wrong (not scanned, but manually input) and then the original script was thrown away. I've started taking a photo of the original script with my cell phone before I drop it off. Then, when I pick it up, I compare to what my photo says. Some of the pharmacies get so busy that they just don't bother to double check their work.

Wow. They threw the original script away? I would hate to be that pharmacy if they were federally audited. I work in a pharmacy and federal regulations require that hard copies of prescriptions be kept on file for 2 years if they are not controlled and 7 years if they are a controlled substance. I know my pharmacy keeps the records. Yes, we have made some mistakes (unfortunately), but we always refer back to the hard copy when there is a question.