DAYLIGHT ROBBERY AT PHARMACY
Patient given wrong, expensive medication
MEIZON Pharmacy in St Mary’s Chitungwiza is at the centre of a storm for allegedly ignoring a prescription and then refusing to dispense the correct prescription.
Koshiwai Kawero, who resides in the sprawling town, became a victim on Wednesday when two employees ignored her prescription and dispatched paediatric formulations instead of the adult dose, which was on her prescription.
Narrating her story to H-Metro, Kawero said after purchasing medication from the pharmacy, she went back to St Mary’s Clinic to show the nurse who had prescribed the medication and was told to return it and get tablets.
“I went to the pharmacy with my prescription and showed them. The nurse had actually told me that l was supposed to get the medication in tablet form and surprisingly, the pharmacy gave me a bottle of syrup,” she said.
Upon returning with the medication, to get the tablets after consulting with her nurse, she was told that no pharmacy takes back medicines once they go out. This is correct but if a pharmacy has erred it is supposed to dispense the correct medication, and adjust the final price so the patient pays only for the correct medicine.
“When I returned with the bottle, the two ladies told me that they don’t take back medication once gone outside. They even bragged that they wanted to push that type of formulations and if I wanted a week’s course, then I was supposed to buy another bottle,” she added.
According to her prescription, Kawero was supposed to get Promethazine 25mg tablets for seven days and they cost roughly US$2. The pharmacy then sold her Promethazine 125mg/5ml syrup at a higher cost of US$5.
Shingai Gwatidzo of Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe said they would not normally comment before getting a complaint from the patient.
They wait for complaints and then send their inspectors to investigate. “We normally don’t comment much before a complaint and we have our channels for customers to lodge complaints of which we will send our team of inspectors to investigate such issues.”
However, he said patients were entitled to health safety and the pharmacy was supposed to have alerted the nurses at the clinic of what was in stock rather than forcing a product on a patient.
“Patients are supposed to be protected from unscrupulous medical practices and in this case, I think the pharmacy staff should have called the prescriber and told them what was in stock rather than to force a patient to take what is in stock.
“Yes, it can be syrup, but the dose must be in tandem with what was prescribed. We would then want to know why they dispensed the syrup without talking to the nurses. Patients need health education on how to take their drugs and the side effects. If that is not done, then patients have the right to choice,” he added.
When H-Metro visited the pharmacy, the two lady staffers on duty laughed off the complaint and said the patient should purchase another bottle of the syrup.
“We don’t take back medication. Who will then buy it. If anything, she can buy another bottle,” they said before bursting into laughter.