Last week I decided to try a new pharmacy, a small business instead of a big chain. I thought since I was paying out of pocket for the medicine that I might as well support this local store.
I take Lexapro, which is a little round white pill that is scored in the middle. When I picked up my medicine, which had my name and correct medicine labeled on the bottle, I was given white, oval pills. I didn’t think much of it. It was a new pharmacy and I thought perhaps they received the pills from a different wholesaler.
I began taking the mystery pill on Wednesday, not thinking twice about it. Thursday I began to feel dizzy. By Friday I was so dizzy that I ended up in urgent care. Diagnosis? Vertigo due to a viral inner ear infection. The doctor could not actually see into my inner ear-for that I would have needed a CT scan, but since I was paying out of pocket, I declined. I felt terrified, I had never felt this dizzy in my whole life. I also started to experience other symptoms; an increase in anxiety and tingling in my hands and feet. It did not even occur to me that I could be taking the wrong pill.
I felt out of sorts, just didn’t feel normal that whole week, until I was out to dinner while visiting my sister in Florida, a week and a half after I had started the new pill. It finally dawned on me that that could be the source of my problems. We looked it up online when we got back to her place, and it turned out I was taking Lipitor, the cholesterol drug, for that time.
I was frightened but also relieved that I was not going crazy or had something more serious.
I got in touch with the pharmacist who was more than apologetic, offering to make it up to me in several ways. I still am not sure if I will continue to get my medicine there. Some of you may be shocked that I am even considering it.
The reality is, mistakes are made, whether big pharmacies or small. But my first thought was that I wouldn’t sue, knowing that this pharmacist, the owner, is a fellow believer (It’s my understanding to not bring fellow believers to court when disputes can be settled outside of it, 1 Corinthians 6:5-7). I suffered some discomfort, but all in all, I will be okay. This decision is not meant to make others feel less 'holy' or shamed for what they would do, I am simply stating my decision.
What would you do if your pharmacy swapped the wrong medicine? Has this ever happened to you, and what came of it?
Can I just say that even though I have never read the Bible and don't actively participate in any specific religion, I would never sue someone over an honest mistake. I find it very discomforting to know that 1) you have chosen not to sue because a passage in the bible tells you not to and 2) had this pharmacist been a non-believer you would presumably be suing them. You may be simply stating your decision, but at least when I state mine its because I have the decency to forgive an honest mistake, not because a passage in the bible told me what to do.
ReplyDeleteAerianette-Thanks for stopping by. I think I can see how you would conclude that based on what I wrote. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. Forgiveness no matter what should be key, especially as a believer. It was further solidified by this passage. The whole point of this passage was that believers were taking other believers to court, and it looked bad to people who weren't believers.
ReplyDeleteNow my question is...would you sue them knowing they had insurance specifically for this purpose of pharmaceutical malpractice, and their mistake caused you to be in the hospital and you had no insurance?
Believer or non-believer, honest mistake or careless one, I'd be suing. At the VERY least I'd expect my hospital expenses covered. Frankly, the reason that doctors, pharmacists, anyone in the medical profession carry such enormous malpractice insurance rates is because their mistakes - honest or otherwise - are life and death ones. Meg, your decision is totally your own, as is your reasoning. I'm glad you're feeling better. aerianette - it's really easy to say what you would or wouldn't do in a given situation without actually going through it. I hope you never have to have your self-righteous convictions tested by something as dangerous as this.
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