More disturbing findings from inspections at CVS stores by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy are starting to surface.
Last week, the Board released a report revealing how staffing issues were negatively impacting eight stores in the state. Now comes results of another inspection by the Board that shows a CVS just outside Cleveland lost 1,800 doses of controlled substances and gave a patient the wrong medication, reports the Ohio Capital Journal.
The store, located in Willoughby, gave a patient a prescription thought to be ropinirole, which is used to treat Parkinson’s disease along with other similar ailments. What was actually in the bottle was digoxin, which is used to treat heart failure and arrhythmia.
According to the report, the patient took 27 digoxin pills and experienced anxiety, an increased heart rate, and sweating. When the patient refilled the prescription he or she noticed that the pills looked different than the ones that were originally administered. CVS corrected the error but the troubling symptoms persisted leading to an emergency room visit.
“The dispensing software permitted the medication to be verified without scanning the bottle or alerting the pharmacist the standard safety procedure may or may not have been completed,” the report said.
CVS said it has comprehensive policies and procedures in place to support prescription safety.
The Willoughby store also lost controlled substances, including tramadol, alprazolam, and zolpidem tartrate. A CVS loss prevention manager blamed one incident on a store remodel. However, Board inspectors found medications spilling off pharmacy shelving in the back of the pharmacy and numerous medication stock bottles on the floor.
