To think this mother was partly at fault

[phantomhairpuller]

pharmacy dispenses ear drops for conjunctivitis

Surely the daft cow should have read the label, no?!

Do people really put things into their children's eyes without first reading the directions?

And as for the poor child's name...

[motherinferior]

The thing is, whether or not you or I read instructions the mother was not at fault. The pharmacist was.

[hobnobsaremyfavourite]

erm....maybe the mum can't read. Or does the op assume everyone is functionally literate.

[NoComet]

I trust our local pharmacist, but not the dopiest of our GPs, so I'd always check.

[starfishmummy]

My son used to be prescribed a particular drop which could be used for eyes or ears.......just sayin'

[Justforlaughs]

On the bright side, the child didn't suffer any major effects and maybe highlighting this case will make more people take more care and check their medication.

[Balaboosta]

I LOVE that name!

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

MistyB Thu 18-Jul-13 18:41:35
Not quite the same but my DS is regularly prescribed (by ENT consultants) drops licensed for use in the eyes but for his ear infections. I usually have to explain to the pharmacist, sometimes I just don't bother and say, yes, it's for an eye infection

I was going to post the same thing. We regularly send our ent patients home with eye drops meant for ears.

It's the pharmacists fault. I check all meds but not everyone does.

[Justforlaughs]

Is anyone else wondering whether there was actually a mistake made at all? If these medications are often for use for both eyes and ears, what are the chances that the right thing was prescribed and then the mother realised that the label said ears, rather than eyes and panicked. I might be wrong and maybe it's only eye drops that are being prescribed for ears, but I do wonder if it's a possibility.

[BackforGood]

Well, I'm amazed my dc have made it to adulthood!
If a pharmacist gave me some drops and said to put them in her eyes, then I would follow that instruction. They are the highly trained professional and I know nothing about medication or chemicals. Can't believe all the disgust and outrage at the mother (even assuming she is functionally literate, which we don't know).

[Icelollycraving]

Yabu. She should have double checked but I understand why she didn't. The childs name is irrelevant & you mentioning it says far more about you than the child or her mother.

[Mumoftwoyoungkids]

I always read everything before I give the children medicine. (And I never sign anything without reading it all either.) So I am surprised the mum didn't.

But that doesn't mean it isn't a very very bad error by the pharmacist. Some people can't read, some people don't speak English, some drugs interact with others even if they technically do what the patient needs.

[HalfBakedAlaska]

When my son was six weeks old I accidentally grabbed the colic drops instead of eye drops from the fridge and squeezed them into his eye. I hadn't realised my husband had put the colic drops in the fridge - I was sleep deprived and never thought to check. When I realised what I'd done (five seconds after administering them) I was hysterical; it took calls to NHS Direct and the Colief helpline to reassure me there was no harm done. I didn't stop shaking all day.

Accidents happen - they don' t make you negligent or a bad mother. Stop being so judgemental.

[Chelvis]

This happened to my DH's gran - given ear drops instead of the prescribed eye drops. She didn't realise because her eyes were so sore and infected that she couldn't see clearly to read the label and just trusted what the pharm assistant told her. I know that in the case the OP linked, a parent should have read it, but it could have easily happened even to a responsible adult with painful eyes! I do blame the pharmacist 90% - the waits are so long normally because they SHOULD double and triple check everything.

[Doubtfuldaphne]

Wow she went to my school! I think cherish is a cute name.

[ShadowMeltingInTheSun]

Personally, I'd have noticed this because I always read all information provided with a medicine before using it, and have in the past queried things that don't look quite right with the GP / pharmacist.

But I really think that the vast majority of the responsibility here is with the pharmacist. They're trained professionals who should make sure that they're giving patients the right medication.

As PP have pointed out, patients may be illiterate, have English as a second language, be on other medicines that interact badly with the wrongly dispensed medicine, or have eye sight too poor to read the label / leaflet.

And totally unreasonable to be picking on the kid's name BTW.

[NeoMaxiZoomDweebie]

Why would you be so rude and snotty as to mention the child's name? If she was called "Isabel" would that have been ok for you? Or too bland?

[Turniptwirl]

I once managed to put eye drops into my ears and only realised when I wondered why my ears weren't unblocking! Very glad I didn't do it the other way round!

[xylem8]

YABU 100% the pharmacists fault

[phantomhairpuller]

I think it's a bloody horrendous name. But that said, I've met people who don't like my DCs names. Everyone is different, everyone is entitled to there opinions. Nowt wrong with that is there?

But I accept its irrelevant to the story so I apologise for that at least

[phantomhairpuller]

*their opinions

[kali110]

Not totally unreasonable, she should have read the bottle.
As for comment about t&c yes i do read all! It really amazes me when people say they don't, i could never sign anything before reading them.?if anything went wrong i wouldnt have a leg to stand on

[sparkle12mar08]

I'd have checked it was the medicine I was expecting before I left the pharmacy tbh, I always do. As part of that I also check the name and address on the label on the product too, there is a woman in the next town over who is Miss MyInitial Mysurname, I am Mrs MyInitisl MySurname. She also lives at the same house number I do, though the road name is different. She obviously shops in this town a lot because I've been given her stuff in pharmacies more than once and also on collect from store Next orders!

[diddl]

Be interested to know if the product names were similar.

Or if there was a picture of an ear on the box.

I think that Cherish is a gorgeous name.

I would have checked.

Although my Dr tells us the name of stuff so when you looked at the product you would know it wasn't right iyswim.