Giving Techs a Bad Name
August 25, 2008
An article by Marshall Allen, titled “For pharmacy techs, drugs easy to steal. Low-paid workers have easy access to pills and little cause to fear prosecution”
The article paints a picture of a low-paid worker with no education stuffing their pockets full of Vicodin to make a quick buck.
It makes no mention of the thousands of hard-working, dedicated, and CERTIFIED techs who care about their career and the health of their patients. Techs who do it on a nearly poverty-level income because they care about their job. I take my career very seriously. And I am angry and ashamed when I see these reports on the few bad apples, instead of spotlighting the many great ones.
I suggest Mr. Allen, as the Medical Affairs Reporter for the paper, look deeper into what the Pharmacy Technician really does. Not just the ones who steal or commit a severe dispensing error.
What should the penalty be?
August 14, 2008
Two Orlando, FL parents said they’re outraged after a pharmacy made a mistake that claimed the life of their 3-year-old son.
Sebastian Ferrero was prescribed 10 times the amount of a growth drug that he needed. The Ferrero family said the pharmacist involved received the minimum punishment for the mistake.
His parents said the decision to fine the Shands Hospital pharmacist responsible for filling their son’s prescription is just a slap on her wrist and a slap in their face.
The 3-year-old died last October. The family blames the pharmacist’s error. Read more
UW-Madison pharmacy student to be deported
April 2, 2008
Via The Daily Cardinal:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials released Tope Awe, a UW-Madison pharmacy school student, from custody in Milwaukee Tuesday, pending deportation.
According to ICE spokesperson Gail Montenegro, Awe and her brother Oluwabenga received orders for deportation. Both are required to wear ankle monitoring bracelets and check in periodically with immigration officials while documents for their return to Nigeria are assembled.
Awe was placed in federal custody March 27 after being summoned to the Milwaukee immigration office.
According to Montenegro, Awe’s family emigrated from Nigeria in 1989 and repeatedly applied for immigration benefits but their requests were repeatedly denied. ICE gave the family until July 31, 2004 to leave the county.
“The Awe family failed to make any contact with ICE after July 2004 as required, and they remained in the United States illegally,” Montenegro said. “In failing to comply with the conditions set by ICE, the Awe family became immigration fugitives with outstanding orders of deportation.”
UW-Madison students rallied against immigrant deportation Monday, and members of several student organizations are circulating a petition on Awe’s behalf.
Webmasters note/Opinion:
It appears that this student is in no way a threat to our national security. Considering the shortage of Pharmacists in the country, shouldn’t this student be considered for a visa or green card for herself? The real error seems to be on behalf of her parent’s application being denied and their unwillingness to comply with the ICE’s orders.
Let the kid stay in school. She will be an asset to the country once she graduates.
Pharmacist who forged Rx faces loss of license for three years
March 31, 2008
Pascal Osei, a pharmacist who was working temporarily at a CVS pharmacy in Randolph, N.J., has admitted that he turned in a forged prescription for oxycodone under a fake name back in 2006. The ruse was discovered through an internal probe. State authorities are recommending that he be sentenced to three years? probation and that he surrender his license for three years. Osei has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in May. Read more
Teenager’s Prescription Drug Abuse
March 20, 2008
It seems that I am hearing more and more about young people abusing prescription medicine.
Just this morning in my daily search for this website’s content I came across 2 shocking storys, one with horrible consequences.
In item number one, 9 middle school girls from Missouri had to be hospitalized after ingesting Methadone. It was given to them by a 16 year old boy the knew on their school bus.
And in item number two, a 17 year old football player died after after overdosing on Fentanyl, placing 2 patches underneath each arm.
Lot’s of time and money are spent trying to educate children on the dangers of drug abuse. Are we doing something wrong here? Or are the kids just stubborn and unwilling to listen?
It all starts at home. And above all, after the “drugs are bad” talk, If the parents have dangerous drugs like this laying around within easy access to the young people, they are just as guilty.
Training standards on all pharmacy technicians
February 25, 2008
On Tuesday, a House bill that would set mandatory education, training and regulatory standards for all pharmacy technicians, is scheduled to be introduced by Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio. He calls it Emily’s Act.
Named for Emily Jerry, a 2 year old girl who died after a technician prepared her chemotherapy drug with a saline solution 26 times above normal.
His bill would make federal grants available to states that require all technicians Read more
E-Prescribing not 100% accurate
February 18, 2008
The Ohio pharmacy board is investigating errors in medical prescriptions filed electronically by doctors.
Incorrect drug names, doses and directions are appearing in Ohio pharmacists’ computer systems, either because of human error, software glitches or both.
The Ohio State Board of Pharmacy began urging doctors in 2000 to switch from handwriting prescriptions to e-prescribing so pharmacists wouldn’t have to decipher sloppy penmanship. Ohio authorizes the use of 37 electronic prescription software programs. Read more
Stop Cough Medicine Abuse
February 7, 2008
Recent studies among middle and high school aged kids across the country demonstrate a trend in substance abuse among teens: the intentional abuse of otherwise beneficial medications, both prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) to get high. Now, it’s time to alert communities and educate parents about a growing problem: the intentional abuse of cough medicines among teens. To learn more about this problem and to find out what you can do to help stop cough medicine abuse, take a moment to check out these materials.
Pharmacy Tip Leads to Meth Bust
November 23, 2007
Another Example of why “Behind The Counter” sales of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products works.
Via Kimt.com:
Freeborn County authorities are still seeking a man after a tip from a pharmacist lands two other men in jail. The Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office has Matthew Peterson and Timothy Schmidt in custody. It began with an ephedrine purchase at an Albert Lea store. Authorities ended up chasing Schmidt and a third man through the county’s fairgrounds. Their investigation led them to a camper near Clarks Grove. They found Peterson inside, with meth lab materials and nearly four grams of the illegal drug.
A Call to Action
August 10, 2007
I’ve written some news items here before about the Children’s Health Insurance program, its necessary expansion, and its hold up on the hill by the right.
I’ve come across a link worth checking out. Covertheuninsured.ord is a website with facts, figures, guidance, and local events across the country. It can tell you who to write, how to get involved, and if you are in need, how to get your child covered.
There are other Pharmacy blogs out there that piss and moan about people on a sate assistance health program and all the drugs that their taxes have to pay for. These are mostly by Pharmacists who can, more than likely, afford insurance for their family.
Then they fire back with “if you can’t afford to raise children then don’t have one” and some other small minded one sided response. And I am sure that their rants are directed at a small percentage of the population, not entire amount of people on these programs. But, a nice and polite hard working Medicaid patient just doesn’t make for good blog fodder, now does it?
Bottom line, these programs are important. Children have the right to health coverage. In my opinion, every working American does.
