HALIFAX — Two Nova Scotia pharmacists have been reprimanded and suspended for making prescription drug errors linked to the deaths of two patients.
In the first case, the Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists found that pharmacy manager Alexandra Willson failed to make sure a patient received the proper dosage of the immune system suppressant, methotrexate.
A settlement agreement released by the college says that as a result of a dispensing mistake, the unidentified patient was given about six times the amount of the drug on May 3, 2016, and died on June 16 after being hospitalized weeks earlier for a severe infection.
It also found Willson misled the college when she stated she had implemented a quality assurance program after pharmacy staff told an investigator they had no knowledge of the program.
Willson was fined $5,000, her licence to practise was suspended for two months and she must take quality assurance courses.
In another case, pharmacist Leanne Forbes had her licence suspended for 30 days after she failed to tell a patient of the risks of changing their drug therapy, which was done because one of the prescribed drugs wasn't covered.
The patient was supposed to receive methadone and naltrexone, but Forbes told them the latter wasn't covered under their drug plan and did not dispense it.
A toxicologist later determined that the patient's death on Dec. 3, 2015, was related to the withdrawal of naltrexone.
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