Young mother warns of potential for dosage errors in prescriptions at the pharmacist

A “terrible mistake” at the chemist has spurred a mum to call for better procedures.

Mikaela Drew with her son Kai.

A DISTRAUGHT mother is looking for answers after nearly giving her son an extreme dosage of prescribed medication.

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North Lakes mum Mikaela Drew said a label written by a Chemist Warehouse pharmacist directed a dosage of the medication Predmix (Prednisolone) eight times the recommended amount for her seven-month-old son, Kai.

Ms Drew said the correct dosage for a child of her son’s age and weight is 1-1.5ml, not the “NINE mL” written on the label by her pharmacist.

Having given her son the medication in the past she noticed what she said would have been a terrible mistake.

“I am still very upset,” Ms Drew said.

“If I had trusted the pharmacist my son would have been placed in danger.

“I am shaken up and traumatised and my trust has been broken about going to the chemist.

“I’ll now have to get a second opinion on everything.”

Mikaela Drew says Chemist Warehouse wrote a dosage for her seven-month-old son which would have given him eight times the recommended medicine.

The pharmacist who wrote the directions on the label was contacted for comment but declined to do so.

Chemist Warehouse was also contacted for comment with no response.

Ms Drew said contemplating an extreme overdose at her own hands was a singularly upsetting event.

“I think the pharmacist just read the doctor’s script wrong and it nearly had serious consequences,” she said.

Having confronted the pharmacist the mum said she was given an apology and promised an investigation into the alleged mistake.

“I would like to see better procedures in place,” Ms Drew said.

“They need to fix this because next time it could be someone else.

“We trust what the pharmacist says.

“I am still gobsmacked at what happened.”

A Queensland Health Department spokesman said incorrect dosages being given to children were quite common, though pharmists were mostly not to blame.

“The Queensland Poisons Information Centre receives an average of 10 calls a day regarding medication errors such as excess dosing, most of which are made by parents and carers,” the spokesman said.

“If you are not satisfied with your health service provider’s response to an event, or feel uncomfortable talking with your provider directly, you can make a complaint with the Health Ombudsman.”

The Queensland Health Ombudsman is available at www.oho.qld.gov.au/make-a-complaint.

If you think someone has taken too much of a medicine you can call the Poisons Information Centre 24 hours a day, every day, on 13 11 26 for advice.

In an emergency, call triple-0 (000) and ask for an ambulance.