Picked up oral Baclofen for my 4 year old son tonight. When inspecting it a home, I noticed that there were large vi sable chunks of undissolved "material". I called the store to report this issue and they instructed me to bring the medication back and that they would mix up a another dosage. I returned to the store and was given another bottle, however there were still chunks of undissolved material. Pharmacist told me that the new generic pill form since store switched from Old Pharmacy to New Pharmacy does not "mix as well." I asked what would happen if one of the chunks ended up in my son's dosage and if it could be an overdose, and her reply was that it could. I asked if it was ok to give the dosage to my son if I was sure that none of the chunks was in the dosage, and her reply was yes, but I detected uncertainty. She then proceeded to tell me that the chunks were "probably" the filler used to make the pills. She could not provide any other direction and apologized to me. I am concerned and upset a couple of things here, but mostly that the pharmacist could not provide any more instruction and more importantly was willing to give me the medication knowing that there was potential risk for my son. Unfortunately we do not have any remaining baclofen - which is our fault - but, we have never had any issues getting this medication quickly and properly up until now. We are forced to skip this dosage and scramble to find another pharmacy in the morning that can mix baclofen compound completely. I have images of the chunks in the bottle should you be interested.
This morning I am taking both kiddos to another pharmacy hoping they can remake the Baclofen. This is unacceptable! We often hear horror stories of pharmacy errors and it's one of those things that's always in the back of my mind. With compounds it could be so easy to make a mistake...which could be very serious if not fatal. We have worked with our current pharmacy for 4 years and as much as I really like the pharmacists I will be taking our prescriptions elsewhere from now on.
So please, always inspect your medication. If something looks off call right away, don't assume things have changed or they switched brands, etc. If it's not the same look, color, smell, or taste call and ask why! It's better to be safe in this kind of situation.
I'll let you know how we make out -- the place opens at 9 am and I plan on being there then!
That is so scary. Good thing you noticed.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the baclofen is in a liquid form? I didn't even know they make it that way. Crew gets it in a tablet and we crush it. Just curious.
Hi Mel! I had no idea you could just crush the tablets! Next neuro visit I will certainly ask if we can go that route -- it's such a pain to have something compounded.
ReplyDeleteWe picked up the new rx at the other pharmacy and it looks spot on, exactly as it should.
It is scary -- I am glad it was a visable problem!
How much Baclofen does Crew take? Jack takes 10 mg 3x a day. We are working up to 12 mg 3x a day over the next few months (increasing slightly every 3 weeks).
This makes me so mad your chemist sounded so nonchalant about the whole thing I would certainly go elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteAngela-
ReplyDeleteWe give Crew 5mg twice a day. The Dr. told us to try more or less to see how it effects him. I haven't done that yet but after looking at Jacks dosage (3X the amount) I guess it would be safe to up the dosage a bit.