Life-saving cancer medicine lost in post
NZ Post says sorry after life-saving cancer medication goes missing. Aaron Leaman reports.
A cancer patient says his life was placed in danger after $10,000 worth of life-saving prescription medication was lost by New Zealand Post.
Retired Waikato farmer Malcolm Hume’s monthly supply of ibrutinib was supposed to arrive at his rural address on January 18.
Hume, 66, has lymphoma and was prescribed the drug by doctors at Waikato Hospital after developing an adverse reaction to his chemotherapy treatment.
His medication eventually arrived on January 28 – a day after a replacement package was couriered to him.
New Zealand Post have apologised to Hume and promised to investigate.
Hume said the delay in getting his medication caused him to become gravely ill.
‘‘The alarm was raised after I went for a blood test and the hospital contacted me about my results,’’ Hume said.
‘‘My white blood cell levels had crashed and staff asked me whether I’d been taking my medication. I said I didn’t know they’d even been posted to me and I contacted police thinking some bastard had stolen them out of my letterbox or something.’’
Hume said a New Zealand Post manager contacted him on Wednesday to apologise.
‘‘I’m not expecting people to crawl on their bellies but I want them to find out what went wrong. This medication is lifesaving stuff and without it, my immune system crashed. I rang New Zealand Post four times without any joy and I think it’s only because the media is making inquiries that they’re now acting.
‘‘New Zealand Post have these ads on the telly saying they can deliver anything but my confidence in them is shaken.
‘‘I live alone and, who knows, without my medication I could have collapsed and no one would have known for days.’’
The drugs are provided to Hume at no cost. Hume said his preference was to collect his medication in person.
New Zealand Post declined a media request for an interview but, in a statement, Waikato and Bay of Plenty regional service delivery manager Dean Horsup said the company was investigating the incident.
The delay in the delivery of the medication was because of human error.
Horsup said the original parcel never left the postal network and didn’t appear to be tampered with.
He planned to visit Hume on Friday.
‘‘We consider this a serious matter, which we believe to be an isolated incident, and are investigating further,’’ he said.
‘‘We have sincerely apologised to Mr Hume and would like to do so again now for the distress caused.’’
Waikato DHB staff also MARK TAYLOR / FAIRFAXNZ declined to be interviewed but, in a statement, the board’s pharmacy manager Jan Goddard said certain medication, such as Hume’s, couldn’t be collected from a community pharmacy.
In those circumstances, the ideal situation was for the patient to collect the medication during their hospital appointment. When this isn’t possible, the medication is sent via tracked courier parcel to the patient’s address and normally arrives within a day.
‘‘Following this incident we will check to make sure that there is clear communication provided to the patient, that contact details for non-delivery are provided and that there is clear communication around delivery options,’’ Goddard said.
The Waikato DHB Pharmacy delivers hundreds of parcels and had ‘‘very few’’ issues.
‘ I’m not expecting people to crawl on their bellies but I want them to find out what went wrong.’ MALCOLM HUME