Error or Indictment of a Profession

Error or Indictment of a Profession ?
As an animal lover, I too was horrified by the news of the Polo horses’ deaths. I cannot fathom the sight of seeing these beautiful animals dropping like flies in front of the people who care and love them. It is a horrible thought watching animals dying in front of those who have spent countless hours raising them as they would their own children. I know for many people their animals and pets are loved no differently than any other member of their family. I can understand the outrage and the outcries of all sorts of people and groups relating to this incident. I certainly do. Also I do not, in any way want to minimize or down play its occurrence.
However reading the accounts of this, the articles and quotes of all the people and agencies that seem to be perpetuating the endless articles regarding the deaths of the Polo Horses, I sat back and asked myself a few questions. Why has this become such a huge story? Is it because it was all over the news? Is it because the money involved in the sport? Is it because of some other power that sees this as an opportunity to further their agenda?
My biggest question is people die of drug reactions all the time. There are deaths that occur due to medication errors that number in the thousands annually. Why the outcry here? Is this any sadder than having a loved one die of a prescription misfill? Is this any sadder than a young infant given the wrong dose of a medication only to have a beautiful young baby taken away from new parents due to a medication error? I can’t believe it is. But that is on the news for a day or two. Ask yourself why?
As a pharmacist myself, any thought of a medication error, makes pharmacists lose sleep at night. I personally remember my first error over 25 years ago as an intern. I chose the wrong sound –a- like drug. Luckily our systems caught it before it ever left the pharmacy, however to remember this incident 25 years later tells you the impact any error by a pharmacist has on them. For an error that reaches a patient or worse causes harm to a patient, it must be devastating.
Let’s make no mistake here, this is an error. This incident will have its course in both the regulatory and legal systems. Well it should. This incident will play out as all matters do. Franck’s pharmacy will have to answer many questions. They will, and should answer for this error, especially if they were doing something wrong simply for profit.
Now I know of Franck’s pharmacy. I don’t know them personally however they have been around for years. By all accounts they have done a great job in the community. When my father, who lived in Ocala, was dying of cancer, he could not say enough about the way he was treated by the people at Franck’ pharmacy. So I must say I am not ready to pass judgment yet, other than to say, this was a horrible, unfortunate error. Unless we learn differently, Franck’s pharmacy is a good pharmacy that made a serious error.
So what is driving this endless stream of articles? I find little answers. Pharmacists have been compounding since the profession started. Custom medications have provided solutions and relief to patients for as long as the profession of pharmacy has been around. It helps solve the one size fits all model of manufactured medications. There is some common sense here. You can’t expect an infant to take the same strength medication as a pro football player, can you? You can’t expect a cat to take the same strength medication as a horse, can you? How about the elderly or gravely ill who can’t swallow, or need special dosage adjustments. There is a "Tried and True" saying in medicine-start low and go slow! Ask any physician if this is sound practice. So the ability to tailor the dose of the medication is an invaluable part of the practice of pharmacy.
Make no mistake about it, all this publicity is driven by people who have their own agenda and want to change the profession of pharmacy. In lieu of a logical answer, I say "follow the money! For years certain pharmaceutical companies have been trying to stop the practice of compounding pharmacy, not because it was unsafe, but because it was eating into their hormone profits. I can’t say that it is they who are fueling this media frenzy, but it is certainly worth asking the question.
In addition, for years the FDA has tried to regulate and get oversight over the compounding business which has always been and is still regulated by the board of pharmacy. Could this be part of a power play for territory, power or control?
This in not about the Polo Horses to them, it is an indictment on the profession of pharmacy. The way the profession is run by the state Boards of Pharmacy, and the inability of certain interest groups to change the profession of pharmacy for their own personal agenda!
I am asking the questions. Why such a disproportionate amount of articles, media attention and weeks of coverage for this compared to the many other medication errors that kill people annually? Who has that kind of money and clout? Who benefits from it? It seems an appropriate question to ask. Doesn’t it?
In the words of one of the great philosophers of our time, Dennis Miller- This is just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Written by:
Dean A. Pedalino RPh, CPh, FASCP
HCC Pharmacy Business Solutions