Pharmacy Error Kills 21 Champion Polo Horses
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Tragedy struck innocent victims in Palm Beach County. Franck’s Pharmacy has admitted an error in mixing medications which led to the needless loss of the lives of 21 innocent animals.
Blue tarps spotted the sidelines of a polo field in Wellington as one by one beautiful horses collapsed beside the field. Loving owners and caretakers feverishly tried to shield spectators from a scene of desperate efforts to save the lives of these beautiful, noble animals. Owners, players and fans were helpless to stop or ease the suffering and death of the horses.
Once again we are presented with another instance illustrating the lax, minimal regulation and oversight of the Pharmacy industry. We should not allow any solace that this tragedy happened to animals…pharmacies service people too! This tragedy could just have easily involved someone’s wife, sister or child. Having handled pharmacy negligence cases that involved horrible injuries, including death, sadly this tragedy comes as no surprise to me.
It was noted that pharmacist Paul Franck has been disciplined by the Board of Pharmacy previously for seven violations, including failing to keep a proper inventory of controlled substances and not reporting anabolic steroids in his inventory. While he did not admit to any violations he did sign a reprimand and agreed to take an educational course.
Based on my experience in these cases, one rarely sees any teeth put into policing pharmacists or pharmacies with dangerous deficiencies or errors in safety. The industry loves to hide behind the “human error” explanation, the “things happen” defense. When you carefully peel away at the onion, there are often several root causes to the “human error” and often, they are problems easily correctable, but sadly ignored.
I for one am saddened and dismayed as I read all those who were impacted by this needless tragedy. Having attended the services of someone who needlessly lost their life to a medication error, I can only hope that the ongoing saga of pharmacy errors resonates with the public and those serving to protect us. Simply stated, this should not be happening.