TOP STORY: Pharmacy mix-up almost fatal for kidney transplant girl

HINERANGI VAIMOSO
An 11-year-old Dannevirke kidney transplant patient who was mistakenly given the wrong medication could have died, her mother said.
The case is the second potentially fatal error made by a pharmacist to emerge in the past week.
When Emma Leader of Palmerston North was given anti-psychotic medication instead of prednisone to soothe her night-time cough, the Pharmacy Council said it had been an isolated case.
The two-year-old fell into a coma and spent several days in Palmerston North Hospital's intensive care unit.
But Vicki Jackson's mother, Katrina, says Emma is not the only child to receive potentially lethal drugs by accident. Five years ago Mrs Jackson gave her daughter one of her own kidneys after Vicki developed nephrotic syndrome.
Vicki had since had to take anti-rejection drugs. But ensuring Vicki receives the right amount of medicine has become a nightmare for the Jackson family.
Wards Pharmacy has twice dispensed the wrong dosage. Mr Jackson's vigilance has saved his daughter's life more than once.
In March last year Mark Jackson noticed her medication was a different colour and realised she had been given the wrong prescription.
"It was printed with the correct drug and the correct dose rate, but unfortunately the contents didn't match the box," Mr Jackson said.
On the first occasion, the medication dispensed was twice the normal strength.
Three months later, Wards dispensed pills five times the recommended strength, an error that could have cost Vicki her kidney and possibly her life.
"We were angry thinking of all the suffering she's been through, the work we've all been through to get back her quality of life," Mrs Jackson said today.
"To think that we could have lost it all so easily."
"She would have become very ill and we would have run the risk of kidney failure," Mrs Jackson.
"It could have been life-threatening." Wards Pharmacy has formally apologised to the family since the incident occurred.
Owner Tom Ward said he had difficulty finding enough qualified staff.
Mrs Jackson said the family would trust the pharmacy again. "They have given us their word - so what more can you ask for?" she said.
"But check your medication."
That is also the message from the Chairperson of the Pharmacy Council, Eleanor Hawthorn.
"We regularly get changes in the funded medication and they can look different," Mrs Hawthorn said. "But if you ever have any doubt, check with your pharmacist."
Mrs Hawthorn estimated New Zealand pharmacists processed one million prescriptions a week, or 500 million prescriptions a year.
Over the past year there had been five complaints, all similar cases.
Wards Pharmacy is still under investigation by Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Patterson.
Mr Patterson will present his findings to the Pharmacy Council where consequences will be explored.