Pharmacy Board Dismisses Most Prescription Error Complaints
Boston's WCVB news team investigated pharmacy errors in Massachusetts - and what they found was startling.According to their report, "the Massachusetts pharmacy board dismisses most cases brought by patients who file complaints about prescription errors. They also do only a handful of routine inspections. And the chair and co-chair of the pharmacy board are employed by major chains."
The pharmacy board is failing to keep up with the demand for pharmacy inspection - there are only three inspectors for the entire state - and without regular inspections, pharmacy chains go unsupervised. Routine inspections are rare, according to WCVB, and even filing a complaint might not warrant a visit from a pharmacy board inspector.
Compounding this problem, as WCVB states, is the fact that employees of
several major pharmacy chains sit on the pharmacy board of directors.
As one expert put it:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/investigative/18985973/detail.html
"It is totally appropriate for CVS to be represented in some way on that oversight board," said Regina Herzlinger, a health care expert at Harvard business school.Herzlinger calls for more public involvement on boards, and says that "Random surprise inspections is the way you keep people on their toes." Ultimately, taking action to improve pharmacy inspection rates and pharamcy board oversight is in the public health's best interest. Read more at:
"But for its representative to chair the oversight group that's overseeing CVS? That's seems a little hard to swallow," she said.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/investigative/18985973/detail.html
My name is Ray Funatsu and I've been a pharmacist since 1963. In '74 I started working as a manager with Sav-on until '94; that's when I stepped down because it got to be a little too much. I worked until 2000 and retired and now I'm on-call.
Leave a comment