nick

[nsherwood934]

i have been taking 25mg atenolol instead of 20mg  simvastatin for the past month as a result of the pharmacist giving me the wrong prescription, should i be concerned ?

[kay775]

i am a pharm tech and you should quit taking the wrong med right a wah and notify your pharmicist and doctor of the problem  the pharmicist should report the incident to a reporting system used by their company for this type of problem it helps to see whats going wrong and what extra safe guards need to be put in place i hope you dont experience anything bad from this and i wish you the best of luck always double check your meds we are all human and make mistakes but these kind of mistakes should not be tolorated

[geminigirl1963]

Yes, there is definite need for concern!  Atenolol is a beta blocker, used for treating high blood pressure and chest pain.  Simvastatin is a "statin" drug used to treat high cholesterol.  COMPLETELY different medications!!

You need to contat both your doctor and the pharmacy manager IMMEDIATELY and report this error and make it a formal report, not simply a "talk" with the pharmacy manager.  That way, if any ill effects from this error happen, there is documentation and you may have some recourse if necessary.

In the meantime, while I normally don't recommend changing, starting or stopping ANY medications without prior knowledge and approval from your physician, I would definitely recommend NOT taking any more of the incorrect med.

Out of curiosity, how did you determine that it was the wrong med?  Were two different pills mixed in the same prescription bottle or were you given the wrong bottle?

As LivinginHope mentioned, it's always a good idea to double check your prescriptions EVERY time you pick them up from the pharmacy.  While there are steps in place to help avoid these types of errors, pharmacies ARE run by humans and humans make mistakes.  Not only do I double check the bottles before I leave the pharmacy, but I also take an extra step (after I get home usually) and check each pill to compare the code/imprint/color/shape not only to each other in the bottle, but also against the description of what the med SHOULD look like that is printed on my prescription bottle.  I'm not sure if all pharmacies have this description on the bottles, but you may want to check to see if yours does.  If not, there is also a website that I use whenever I get a new prescription, change in dose, etc., until I become familiar with what the med should look like and what the imprints are.  I find it very helpful because you can either enter the color/imprint/code, etc., information, or you can simply enter the medication name and it will show you what it should look like and what that particular pill's strength is.  The website is drugs.com.  Mind you, I'm not trying to advertise any particular website or information, only providing what has been helpful to me in helping to make sure I'm getting and taking the medication I'm supposed to.

This type of error only goes to show more how important it is that we, as the patient, stay involved in our own healthcare and take a proactive role - not just presume that what we are given is correct.

I wish you the best of luck and please let me know how things turn out.

[LivingInHope]

I believe that is the same drug that a pharmacist mixed in with a prescription of mine- some were the right pills, some not.  If you feel ill effects, please see your doctor.  I definitely recommend you report the pharmacist error to their superior.  You should be concerned when you cannot trust your pharmacist.  I tend to check my prescriptions now when I pick them up before leaving the vicinity of the pharmacy, as two times, a pharmacy I went to in the past made errors- one I mentioned above, the other was, they gave the wrong dosage of the right kind of drug.