Boots double-dose confusion leads to pensioner’s death

A Boots pharmacy mix-up led to the death of a grandfather, an inquest heard.

Richard Lee, 84, collapsed at his home in 2016 and later died after he was given two sets of the same drugs by two separate Boots branches.

The mix-up led to Mr Lee taking double the amount he needed in the week before he died.

A Boots pharmacy in Doncaster had agreed to supply his medication through Medisure packs, which simplified his dosing regime. When the branch was suddenly unable to process the prescription, it handed responsibility to another Boots pharmacy.

A pharmacist was told to inform the other pharmacy to stop the dispensing of Mr Lee’s medication, however a record of this conversation was not made.

A spokesman for Boots UK said that this was an isolated incident which has been investigated and they will do all they can to prevent it from happening again.