Woman's eyes glued shut thanks to pharmacy blunder

SINGAPORE - An elderly woman unwittingly "glued her eyelids shut" after she applied the medication that had been dispensed to her by a pharmacy at a local hospital. Although the doctor had prescribed her Solcoseryl 20% Eye Gel, the hospital pharmacy had given her Solcoseryl Dental Adhesive Paste instead. Dental adhesive paste or eye gel? (Photos: STOMP) According to online pharmacy websites, both Solcoseryl Dental Adhesive Paste and Solcoseryl Eye Gel contain proteins derived from calf blood that aid in wound healing.

Her son, Austin, wrote in to STOMP with pictures of the wrong product:
"As shown in the pictures attached, my mother was prescribed Solcoseryl 20% Eye Gel but whoever was behind the counter gave her Solcoseryl DENTAL ADHESIVE PASTE instead.
"My mother does not understand English, and her eyesight is too poor to make out the words even if she did.
"I came home to find her complaining that it was difficult to open her eyelids and discovered to my horror that she had applied this paste to her eyes."
In a phone conversation with STOMP, Austin verified that his mother's eyelids were glued shut because she had applied the dental adhesive paste.
He added:
"She had to have her eyes rinsed repeatedly. As it is, there is no telling if there is going to be any permanent damage from this mistake and she may very well had gone blind if nobody was home tonight.
"Please urge your readers to check and double-check anything that they are given by hospital pharmacies, especially if they have elderly parents."
According to Austin, his mother was brought to the hospital's A&E department where she was given an eye irrigation treatment.
The family is still waiting for a response from the unnamed hospital on the matter.

My View

Pharmacy should never make such blunders as the woman is old and sick she will not be able to make out the words with poor eyesight. This is a serious matter that the pharmacy should look into. People who usually come the pharmacy are sick and some of them might not be aware what medication is dispense to them and they usually just take their medication as directed by the doctor. If the pharmacist dispense the wrong medication this could cause a lot problem to the patient. However patients should also be responsible and check the medication before they leave the counter. After the mistake is made it is hard to reverse however if all of us are alert it is easy to avoid this from happening.

Banu Priya Bathumalai- 104515L