Pharmacy management solutions are lacking, and negligent training, inefficient systems, and unregistered employees are endangering patients’ lives. Too many Americans separate pharmacists and pharmacy employees from healthcare professionals and that attitude is costing lives. Take, for instance, Emily Jerry. How did lacking pharmacy regulations kill Emily at just 2 years old?
Would-Be Cancer Survivor Dies At Age 2
“Emily was diagnosed with a yolk sac tumor when she was about a year-and-a-half old. The tumor was the size of a grapefruit inside her tiny little abdomen,” her father, Chris Jerry, writes on the website created in her honor, The Emily Jerry Foundation. Initially, doctors told Jerry and his family that Emily’s prospects were grim. Against all odds, however, the young girl responded extremely well to chemotherapy and related treatments. Six months later, her tumor was all but gone. She died days after her final chemotherapy treatment. How did things take such a drastic turn?
Prior to Emily’s treatment, a pharmacy technician filled a custom chemotherapy bag. He filled it with 23.4% sodium chloride solution when it called for less than 1%! His reasoning is unknown. Some suggest a failing electronic and/pr pharmacy point of sale system may have been to blame. The man served several years in jail for Emily’s death.
When Outdated Pharmacy Software and Negligent Employees Kill
“My beautiful Emily’s death was senseless and preventable,” Jerry continues. Reliable retail pharmacy software and pharmacy management solutions could easily save lives — lives like Emily’s. Jerry urges pharmacies, whether hospital, retail, or outpatient pharmacies, to carefully and thoroughly train all employees. Moreover, he asks that they register pharmacy technicians. (When Emily died, there were no registration requirements for pharmacy technicians in Ohio. At least six states, including New York, still do not register pharmacy techs.
Jerry continues campaigning, urging pharmacies all over the U.S. to prevent accidental and tragic deaths. Training and registering all employees, and purchasing current software, can — and will — make an incredible difference. Helpful sites.