Franklin Gray and White Blog

Wal-Mart Sued Over Alleged Drug Mislabeling

From AppealDemocrat.com:

"A pharmacist at the Yuba City Wal-Mart store mislabeled a pill bottle, resulting in a woman taking twice too much blood pressure medication and nearly dying, according to a $1.2 million lawsuit filed in Sutter County Superior Court.

After collapsing on a bus, victim Geraldine Schamanski's heart stopped five times in 24 hours. Her family was told two different times that she had died, said Yuba City attorney Nancy A. Southworth, who filed the lawsuit Friday on behalf of Schamanski and her husband, Raymond.

Besides Wal-Mart, the pharmacist and Asereth Medical Services are named as defendants. The latter company apparently supplied the pharmacist who mislabeled the bottle, said Southworth.

Michelle Bradford, a spokeswoman at Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters, said company officials had not yet been served with papers in the case and could not comment.

Aside from a blood pressure problem, Schamanski was in "very good" health for a woman in her 70s before the pill mix-up. But if she had died from the overdose, the death probably would have been attributed to old age, said Southworth.

According to the lawsuit, Schamanski was taking two generic medications in early 2008 — nadolol, which is a beta blocker, and furosemide, a diuretic. The pharmacist gave Schamanski a pill bottle labeled furosemide that actually contained nadolol, causing her to take 80mg per day of nadolol instead of 40mg.

Schamanski collapsed after taking the double dose for at least six weeks. She "died" once in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, said Southworth."

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The law firm of Franklin Gray & White repesents victims of medical malpractice, including medication errors.  If your family has been the victim of a medication error, please contact, or email, the experienced attorneys of Franklin Gray & White for your free consultation.

 

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