Colorado: In a shocking incident of oversight and medical negligence, an eight-year-old boy in Colorado died after a pharmacy ‘accidentally’ increased his dosage to 1000 times of what he was prescribed, the child’s mother has claimed.
Caroline Steinbrecher's son Jake was prescribed Clonidine for ADHD and blood pressure to treat hyperactivity disorder since three years.
Last October, Jake was rushed to the hospital as his health suddenly dropped, only to know that his brain was swelling. However, further testing threw up some shocking results.
As it turns out, Jake had been prescribed 0.03mg of Clondine but the results of the test showed he was taking a dosage of 30mg, 1000 times more than his prescribed medication.
After spending several days in the hospital, Jake returned to his normal life all fit and fine. He was doing good until this month when he was hospitalised again due to severe illness. Jake died on June 8 leaving the family devastated.
According to Caroline and her attorney, Good Day Pharmacy, in Loveland, Colorado, has taken responsibility of the incident.
'How could somebody do that? How there was no other way to make sure the medicine was mixed correctly before it was out the door other than the say-so of the pharmacist who made it?' Caroline said.
“People need to be aware of what is being given to their children they trust doctors and they trust pharmacists to do the right thing for them and to keep their children safe, but these are all just people and people make mistakes and errors and that's where more protection needs to be in place,' Caroline said.
Caroline is now using Jake’s case to bring out more rules and regulations in pharmacy industry. She is also raising her voice for justice and is making people aware of the incident to make sure something like this never happens to anyone else in future.
“We want him to be remembered as a vibrant, talented dancer,” she said, “whose life was taken away by a pharmaceutical error.”
According to ABC 7, the pharmacist who was at fault of mixing the medication is still licensed to practice and works at Good Day Pharmacy.
“It wasn't a mistake. It was sentinel error,” Caroline Steinbrecher, Jake's mother, told ABC 7.
The family is still waiting for Jake's autopsy’s reports, but Caroline believes the pharmacy's negligence is the reason her son died.
