You should always check to make sure the medicines you get are the medicines you’re prescribed. Dorothy Enriquez learned this lesson the hard way when she began taking the leukemia drugs that CVS gave her instead of her actual prescription. Not only did the pharmacy give her the wrong drug, but at several times the recommended dose for someone who actually has leukemia.

She took the drugs because she thought she’d been given a generic for her normal prescription, but when she started feeling ill, she called CVS and asked them about the strange new drug. They told her it wasn’t a generic for her usual prescription, but they did offer to refill it for her. Finally, Dorothy looked up the drug on the internet. That’s when she found out it was a powerful chemotherapy drug.

Ms. Enriquez ended up in the hospital, and CVS ended up in Fox 5, New York’s “Hall of Shame.” Fox 5 went to the CVS with their camera crew and tried to interview the pharmacist who made the mistake. He wasn’t willing to talk, but they did notice that he was supervising more assistants than is allowed by law. When they asked him about the violation he smiled and answered, “You’re good!”

Shame, Shame, Shame: Medication Mistake [Fox 5]

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