UPDATE: 13 Families Affected by CVS Pill Mix-Up
Distribution of breast cancer treatment pills with children's fluoride tablets blamed on a 'restocking issue.'
CVS Pharmacy said the mixing of Tamoxifen with children's fluoride tablets in its Main Street location was caused by "a single medication restocking issue."
Michael DeAngelis, the director of public relations for CVS out of its Rhode Island corporate headquarters, wrote in a statement to Chatham Patch that 13 patients contacted by CVS out of about 50 found Tamoxifen tablets mixed in with children's fluoride pills.
The problem was brought to the company's attention, the statement reads, by "a vigilant parent who contacted us on Feb. 20."
"We removed the one stock bottle that we believe to be the source of this issue," the statement continues.
DeAngelis also wrote CVS "is cooperating" with an order from the state Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to provide all documentation and communications regarding the improper dispensation of Tamoxifen.
The order, signed Friday by DCA Director Thomas R. Calcagni, gives CVS until Friday to turn over records of complaints from parents, notifications to customers and policy manuals that address how the pharmacy handles prescription drugs by Wednesday. Also, any employee with knowledge of the incident must appear before him and submit to questions under oath on Friday.
CVS must also turn over "all reported instances of the commingling of prescription medications in CVS stores" in New Jersey over the past year.
"CVS has admitted mistakenly dispensing breast cancer medication in lieu of fluoride tablets intended for children," Cagliani said in a statement. "Public safety implications compel an examination of the safety controls in place, not just for these drugs but for all others including those classified as controlled dangerous substances."
The DCA first learned the Chatham CVS mixed 20-miligram tablets of Tamoxifen, a medication for breast cancer, with 0.5-miligram fluoride pills for children from an article on Chatham Patch published Thursday afternoon.
The fluoride pills have the letters "SCI" stamped on one side and the numbers "1007" stamped on the reverse. The Tamoxifen pills have the letter "M" stamped on one side and the numbers "274" on the reverse.
Both pills are round, white and about the same size.
"We have taken immediate action to determine how many families may have been impacted by this potentially dangerous situation and how we can best address this with the pharmacy to identify those families and prevent any harm to children going forward," Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said in a statement.
"We want to get the word out to the public so that we can reach any residents in the area who may have been given the wrong pills," he said.
Elizabeth
6:34 am on Tuesday, March 6, 2012
About two years ago, I had a prescription for Synthroid refilled at the Chatham Main Street CVS. Instead of Synthorid, they substituted Thyroxin. Unfortunately, I had a severe reaction to it - called a "Thyroid Rash," a most uncomfortable and distressing allergic reaction caused by the different "fillers" in the different medication - which was treated symptomatically but wasn't diagnosed until I happened to notice the difference on the bottle label and checked it out with my endocrinologist. I reported the situation immediately to the folks at the Chatham Main Street CVS who were obviously very embarrassed and reticent to do anything other than replace the two weeks of wrong medication at no additional cost and change the prescription going forward. I also filed a complaint - by phone and in written form via the internet - with CVS. This is all to say that this unfortunate incident with fluoride and tomaxifin is not the first time this CVS has had a mix up in medication. I hope it will be the last and that CVS institutes and enforces proper protocol and safety measures to ensure that this never happens again. I pray none of the children have any ill effects from this incident.
TCG
10:22 am on Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Let me get this straight. Drug companies make billions producing drugs nobody has asked for and few of us need. Doctors, the only profession I can think of that isn't policed (other than via the dreaded lawsuit), take all manner of perks from the drug companies to prescribe the drugs we don't need and then pharmacies take their cut to fill the scripts. And we're somehow shocked that a system dripping in profits and eager to hook us on the next oxycontin or viagra is making mistakes in the rush to cash in?
Here's one for you - how did any of us wrtiting these letters to the editor survive without fluoride tablets? Think about it. And ask yourself who is really to blame. Is it the doctor who prescribes whatever we ask for? Is it the drug company who greases the doctor to get he or she to push the most profitable poison? Or...if we are honest...is it those of us who seek a pill for every ailment, no matter how insignificant? Let's face it...demand for this stuff is what drives the never-ending supply (complete with gauzy tv commercials). Remove the demand and the CVS mistake never happens.