Ok, question DUers. My oldest friend just came back from the doc freaked out.

[cwydro]

When she went to pick up her usual prescriptions, there was one for insulin.

She came to my house practically hysterical. I told her it was probably a mistake (though an egregious one) and I called for her. She wouldn’t call because she was so busy having a meltdown.

Turns out it WAS a mistake, but WTF?

This just seems very wrong.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Call the pharmacy and then her doctor to confirm.

Must be a mistake if this is the first time she's been given Insulin.

Physicians have a duty to educate patients about any and all pharmaceuticals prescribed, including how to safely use, side effects, and of course, monitoring.

I'm guessing it was a mistake.

[cwydro]

3. Oh, I called the doc, and yes it was a mistake.

But this seems a scary one to make.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

30. Not to say that physicians don't have a duty to educate patients,

it's the pharmacists that know the most about how to safely use a drug, the side effects, and so on.

[no_hypocrisy]

34. My father was a cardiologist. He went through the PDR (Physicians' Desk Reference)

with his patients still in his consulting room, even if he were giving out "samples" of the drugs. He let his patients know what to expect, what not to expect, and to call him immediately if there were a problem. Pharmacists were merely redundant compared to him.

[demosincebirth]

2. What kind of doctor does she have? Big mistake

[cwydro]

5. A GP, I guess, she's in her 60s with Obamacare and Medicare.

She likes her doc a lot, but this scared the crap out of her.

[demosincebirth]

9. Look on the bottle and see what doctor ordered it - call him

[cwydro]

11. I called her, got the assistant. They apologized all over the place.

She loves her doc, but this is wrong in so many ways.

[demosincebirth]

13. Diabetes is very controllable anyway

[cwydro]

15. Well yeah, but still a diagnosis you want to get from the doc.

Not finding a script at the pharmacy!

[demosincebirth]

26. I agree

[PoliticAverse]

4. You should always check your prescriptions -including verifying...

that the pills in the bottle are what it says on the bottle.

Medical errors kill over 200,000 people every year...
( https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-america.html )

[cwydro]

8. Yeah, checking the script was not a big deal when she saw the price tag.

At that point she knew something was up.

[at140]

6. Never assume the doctor or hospitals are error-proof

or the drug store for that matter. Be your own sentry and double check everything.

[Skittles]

7. wow

that's a bad mistake.....needs to be reported

why was your friend melting down? WTF is this would be an appropriate response. Is she OK?

[cwydro]

10. Well, she was just all scared. No, not a normal response for her.

I kept telling her that no way would a person be diagnosed with diabetes without the doc having a sit down.

She has been known for drama queen antics lol, but in this case, I really was on her side.

[Skittles]

16. make sure the pharmacy managment is aware of that error

that is some serious business right there

[Caliman73]

12. Medication mistakes happen frequently.

When I visit my doctor, he tells me the medications that he is going to prescribe me. I usually write it down and ask about the side effects, cost benefit and other things.

I can see how it would freak someone out to get a new medication that they were not expecting. I am assuming that your friend has Diabetes that is typically controlled with oral medications?

Doctors are human and depending on their staff, the business of their office, and other factors, including coding to the pharmacy, mistakes like that can occur. The pharmacy will at times check back with a doctor's office if the medications deviate from a typical order without explanation.

[Hoyt]

14. Such mistakes are not uncommon, unfortunately. In this case, insulin isn't likely to be something

most of us would just inject if we hadn't been trained.

[cwydro]

19. True dat.

I asked her if there were needles in there, but she never bought the prescription...told the pharmacist there must be a mistake.

I have a good friend who is a diabetic. Believe me, I know the drill.

[Vinca]

17. It happens. Back in the 70's I worked for a doctor and a woman came in who had the

medications Digoxin and Digitoxin mixed up by the pharmacy. She didn't know the difference and ended up having to have a pacemaker implanted. No need for your friend to freak out if she knows at her last visit her doctor didn't suggest insulin.

[Collimator]

18. Ha! I received an envelope from my doctor's office. . .

That turned out to be someone else's stool sample smears!

Not only was it something pertaining to a different patient, but it was something that had been received in the mail and supposed to be directed to the doctor's attention, not mailed back out again.

Then, of course, there was the fact that it was a stool sample--

because, you know, poo.

[cwydro]

21. Whoa, that doctor is liable for HIPAA violations.

Seriously.

[Collimator]

24. Oh, her eyes widened with fear when I brought them to her.

Though I doubt that she was the one who stuffed the envelope with another patient's stool smears. That event and another experience with her personally are why I went looking for another doctor.

Also--why couldn't I have accidentally received someone else's flower delivery? Why did it have to be poo?

[cwydro]

25. Lol!

I hear ya!

[3catwoman3]

20. Is she on anything else that she has to inject into herself?

If not, at least there would not have been any way for her to take this incorrect prescription.

[cwydro]

23. Nope, not at all.

And I pointed that out to her while she was having a cow lol.

[LuckyCharms]

22. Pharmacy mistakes are very common, unfortunately.

Since scripts are filled by humans, they are susceptible to human error.

The good news is that it was indeed a mistake, and she caught it.

The doctor would have not given her insulin without demonstrating how to inject. Also, it seems like pharmacy nor the doc provided syringes, so she would not have been able to inject anyway.

I worked in a pharmacy long ago, and freaking out over a script mistake happens quite often. People do tend to get really upset. I guess the good thing here is that it WAS insulin and not a pill, because a pill would have a much higher chance of being taken by the customer without noticing the error. This is where a pharmacy can really get itself in trouble.

[MuseRider]

27. I had a similar problem

when my doctor left me to deal with his PA. Idiot would not prescribe a med I had been on for 20+ years with that doctor. Instead he sent the script in for something I had tried and never worked, we were years past that and now every time I go get my script they always ask if I want the other one. He also refused to take care of my hip, told me the MD did not know what he was talking about it was actually my back and he knew better surgeons over in another city.

When I go in to the doctor I tell them up front that I walk if I have to see the PA, there is no reason to not see an actual doctor. Sorry to those here who are PA's. I am sure there are some good PAs out there but I am paying for an actual specialist Doctor and do not have the time nor the extra money to be seen by his assistant.

This kind of stuff should never happen. Everything has broken down since I was involved in it. We never had these kinds of problems before. See less patients and take care of them yourself? Might help decrease the bad incidents like this.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

31. A PA who trashes the doctor he works for?

You need to let that doctor know. They should fire that PA.

[MuseRider]

36. The doctor should not be allowed to practice

I went in to see him and I had 2 appointments and I never even heard his voice. He certainly billed us for seeing me. The PA ordered 2 sets of xrays that I did not need, I brought xrays from the medical school that showed that I was in trouble with the hip. So 2 exposures to radiation I did not need, a misdiagnosis by his PA and I just left, we paid the bill with a note attached. I have no idea what happened.

I saw this guys partner who is excellent. I told them no PA so I saw the nurse, the PA stepped in to say hello (not the same guy) and talked to me just to pass time because the doc was busy. This doc is young, excited about his job and his reputation is very good. He has taken care of me for the last couple of years.

[HipChick]

28. Mistakes happen all the time, I got my medical records

From my old dr..

They had even verified my ID when I picked them up....

My new dr was giving me all these proposed plans of treatment...

Something did not sound right, I grabbed the folder off his desk..

It showed Stage 4 cancer results...For someone else...


birthdate was wrong, name was wrong....

[lpbk2713]

33. Wrong in so many ways.

It raises the question of what kind of treatment was the cancer patient getting. If your doctor had their records they might not have been getting the proper treatment. And stage four doesn't any more serious. It means it has metastasized.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

29. Why was she hysterical?

[Takket]

32. doctor isn't just going to put you on a new med without telling you why

safe to say it is a mistake and not panic until you confirm

[912gdm]

35. OP can you clarify something?

Was the RX mistakenly sent BY the doctor to the pharmacy? That's how I read it, but it seems like a few people are thinking this is a pharmacy snafu