We have a patient who gets regular Fludrocortisone tablets...
As pharmacists will know, this product needs to be stored in the fridge. The patient's mother brought his regular prescription into our pharmacy 10 days ago and it was dispensed as usual...
The mother returned today with "mushy tablets" asking what could I do about it? She had clearly stored the product innapropriately.
She had to go to the GP anyway for another item, so I suggested that she explains the situation to the doctor - that the product had degraded due to temperature and storage - and asks for another prescription. She agreed to keep the medication stored properly in future.
Imagine my surprise, however, when she returned and the practice had said that the pharmacy should replace them?
This is akin to buying an ice-cream, putting it into the cupboard instead of the freezer and asking the supermarket to replace the ice-cream when you notice it has melted.
I spoke to the surgery and a new prescription was eventually sorted, but it left me thinking about how it's always pharmacy that has to sort it out - we're always piggy in the middle!
As pharmacists will know, this product needs to be stored in the fridge. The patient's mother brought his regular prescription into our pharmacy 10 days ago and it was dispensed as usual...
The mother returned today with "mushy tablets" asking what could I do about it? She had clearly stored the product innapropriately.
She had to go to the GP anyway for another item, so I suggested that she explains the situation to the doctor - that the product had degraded due to temperature and storage - and asks for another prescription. She agreed to keep the medication stored properly in future.
Imagine my surprise, however, when she returned and the practice had said that the pharmacy should replace them?
This is akin to buying an ice-cream, putting it into the cupboard instead of the freezer and asking the supermarket to replace the ice-cream when you notice it has melted.
I spoke to the surgery and a new prescription was eventually sorted, but it left me thinking about how it's always pharmacy that has to sort it out - we're always piggy in the middle!
Photo used under Creative Commons licence from Jo-H
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