Two pharmacists have been held to account for dispensing the wrong kind of insulin for a man who has diabetes.
The man, aged in his early 30s, has a disability and his mother picks up medicines for him from a pharmacy. She was given the wrong type of insulin for him on two occasions last year.
The man's GP prescribed a mixture of short-acting and medium-acting insulin. In February and April last year the mother visited was given medium-acting insulin.
On both occasions she identified the errors before her son took any of the medication incorrectly dispensed, Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Theo Baker says in a report made public today.
She found both pharmacists and the pharmacy had breached the code of patients' rights.
She criticised the two health workers for failing promptly to complete an incident reporting form in relation to their errors once the mistakes had been brought to their attention.