pharmacy apologises after potentially deadly error

An Auckland pharmacy has apologised after making a potentially life-threatening mistake when dispensing a prescription.

Midwest Pharmacy in New Lynn inadvertently gave a woman zinc and castor ointment containing peanut oil to use on her daughter, who has a severe peanut allergy, despite the GP having noted on the prescription that the product dispensed should not contain peanut oils.

Emma Fahy took her daughter, Mercedes, to the GP with a severe nappy rash, and the GP prescribed zinc and castor ointment. Aware that many zinc and castor preparations do contain peanut oil, Ms Fahy asked the GP to make a note of her daughter’s allergy on the prescription.

Before using the cream on Mercedes, Ms Fahy used it on Mercedes’ twin sister. Within minutes a red, blistering rash had developed on her bottom.

“I never even thought to check the label,” Ms Fahy says. “I assumed that because the GP’s instructions were so clear, the pharmacist would get it right.”

Ms Fahy then rang the pharmacy who apologised, and blamed the mix up on a change of supplier. A spokesperson for the pharmacy said they had only recently begun stocking the Multichem brand zinc and castor ointment and hadn’t realised that it did contain peanut oil. They concede that the prescription was marked ‘not to contain peanut oil’ and blame the error on an oversight on the part of the pharmacist concerned.

Ms Fahy says that parents need to be aware that such mistakes do happen, and that they should double check all prescriptions before administering them to their children.

“I don’t think they realised the seriousness of the error,” Ms Fahy says. “If I had put it on Mercedes it could potentially have caused a fatal reaction.”

Mercedes is one of a growing number of children who has a potentially life-threatening peanut allergy, meaning that contact with even a tiny trace of a peanut product can cause a very severe reaction. When people with anaphylaxis to peanut are exposed to peanuts their bodies can react by going into shock, which can lead to cardiac arrest if not treated promptly.