Pregnant Woman Accidentally Receives Abortion Drug: Should She Press Charges?

by SodaHead Living Posted 2011/02/10 23:42:50

Related Topics: Pregnant, Abortion, Medical

391 votes
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	Yes	338 votes	86%
	No	53 votes	14%

A Safeway pharmacist accidentally gave a six-weeks pregnant Colorado woman a drug used in chemotherapy and abortions -- and no, she doesn't accept the company's apology.

"Sorry is not going to cut it. I'm going to have to deal with this a long time," Mareena Silva, 19, told KMGH.

When Silva came in for prescribed antibiotics, she was accidentally given another woman's methotrexate, a powerful drug used in chemotherapy. The drug is also used to end ectopic pregnancies or in combination with another drug to induce abortion, according to The Associated Press.

Doctors say taking the drug during the first six to eight weeks of pregnancy could affect the development of a baby's heart, brain, limbs and cranial facial features.

Safeway Inc. says its safety protocols were not followed, and is offering to do what it can to help Silva.

"We have extended our sincere apologies to Ms. Silva and offered to pay any medical expenses incurred as a result of the prescription error," the chain said in a statement. "We understand the anxiety this has caused and the difficulty of Ms. Silva's situation."

But we don't blame Silva for not accepting their apology, and if there's anything wrong with the baby, we wouldn't blame her for pressing charges. Would you?

+21

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bye 2011/02/10 23:49:54

Yes

+12
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More polls by SodaHead Living

Shelby 2011/02/18 22:19:56

Yes

Especially if she does abort or the baby is born with a defect.

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Illjwamh 2011/02/17 11:29:37

Yes

Jesus. They might very well have messed up the kid's entire life. Damn right she should press charges.

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MorganRae 2011/02/16 18:21:16

Yes

She would be whack not to press charges! Girl, take them for all they're worth!

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The heartless 2011/02/14 04:17:14 (edited)

No

+1
I think Yes -because the medication affected her baby
i think NO- because she should have looked at the medication she was perscribed.

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Rob. 2011/02/13 12:43:33

Yes

Yes of course she should.

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JCD aka "biz" 2011/02/13 12:09:19

Yes

How can 14% of Sodaheads answer "no"? That is, "if there's anything wrong with the baby"

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Illjwamh to JCD aka... 2011/02/17 11:30:47

+1
Well, you can say she should have looked at the medicine she was given before taking it. Which is true; you should always do that. But even so, with a mistake of this magnitude, I would still think Safeway is primarily at fault here.

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KennethJamesAbbott 2011/02/13 10:19:13 (edited)

Yes

They put her child in severe danger. Damn straight she should press charges. "Sorry, we didn't mean for your kid to die," just doesn't cut it.

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Sammie 2011/02/13 09:32:36

Yes

+1
If I was in her place, I would never forgive them as well. Words are cheap, even if they pay for her medical expenses..they took away something of great importance to her.

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Phyl *In God i Trust* 2011/02/13 08:52:08

Yes

How is her babe ? IF IT killed the baby iwould try to do both.

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METALheadMom 2011/02/13 08:49:40

No

I hate taking any medications, and call me paranoid, but I usually know exactly what the pills will look like before I fill my prescriptions. I would never assume it is impossible for a doctor or a pharmacist to misspell, misinterpret, or mess up on a prescription. Her doctor most likely TOLD her what she was prescribing as well. No antibiotic I know of sounds anything like "methotrexate". Is it Safeway's fault entirely? No. Is it possible to hold anyone liable for a child's injuries received before birth? How could you prove something like that? No child is guaranteed to be perfectly healthy. If you knew the drugs you took COULD cause problems, would you choose to take that risk and continue the pregnancy? If you did choose to, and you lost the bet, how could you justify calling yourself a complete
victim?

We do not know how long and how many pills this GIRL, not woman, ingested, or what lead up to her discovering they were the wrong drugs. Those facts make a HUGE difference to me in how I judge this whole mess. It amazes me how quickly the majority of people who read this story JUMPED at the idea of her suing. I hope none of you ever get on jury duty. The defendant wouldn't have a chance. They wouldn't even have to bother with the lawyers.

If I grabbed a bottle at...

I hate taking any medications, and call me paranoid, but I usually know exactly what the pills will look like before I fill my prescriptions. I would never assume it is impossible for a doctor or a pharmacist to misspell, misinterpret, or mess up on a prescription. Her doctor most likely TOLD her what she was prescribing as well. No antibiotic I know of sounds anything like "methotrexate". Is it Safeway's fault entirely? No. Is it possible to hold anyone liable for a child's injuries received before birth? How could you prove something like that? No child is guaranteed to be perfectly healthy. If you knew the drugs you took COULD cause problems, would you choose to take that risk and continue the pregnancy? If you did choose to, and you lost the bet, how could you justify calling yourself a complete
victim?

We do not know how long and how many pills this GIRL, not woman, ingested, or what lead up to her discovering they were the wrong drugs. Those facts make a HUGE difference to me in how I judge this whole mess. It amazes me how quickly the majority of people who read this story JUMPED at the idea of her suing. I hope none of you ever get on jury duty. The defendant wouldn't have a chance. They wouldn't even have to bother with the lawyers.

If I grabbed a bottle at night without the lights on, and I took the wrong medicine, could I sue the power company? I wouldn't only because it's my responsibility to LOOK and KNOW what I am about to swallow. It sickens me how rare it is that people actually take responsibility for what they do or don't do. Mistakes happen, and all of this COULD have be avoided, HAD the girl READ the dang bottle before opening it. Why am I the only one here that sees this? Don't you feel she should be careful, cautious, and aware of
ANYTHING she puts in her mouth ESPECIALLY being pregnant?
(more)

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Kate 2011/02/13 06:54:19

Yes

+1
Absolutely. Pharmacists' errors have serious repercussions. I was almost killed once by a pharmacist who printed the wrong dosage on my medication. Something should be done about this, it's frightening.

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CRStar 2011/02/13 06:53:39

Yes

Yes, because it will send a message....maybe next time someone will get blood thinners instead of Aspirin....

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seth9086 2011/02/13 06:01:53

Yes

+2
Sue sue sue

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GrumpyCat 2011/02/13 05:27:04

Yes

This could be malpractice. Since she is still pregnant and didn't miscarry, she needs to wait and see if her child will have birth defects and developmental problems.

Whats all this about murder?

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sasha 2011/02/13 05:23:10

Yes

+1
I know everybody makes mistakes...but really? This poor woman is going to have a child that is most likely deformed. And the child will have to live with everybody looking at him/ her and whispering back his/ her back. People already have to deal with that. Also, ""We understand the anxiety this has caused and the difficulty of Ms. Silva's situation." How can you understand? How can you understand what this woman is going through? That's just it, you don't. No doubt the pharmacist feels horrible, probably fired by now.

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lawlers... to sasha 2011/02/13 12:25:57

"No doubt the pharmacist feels horrible, probably fired by now." I would hope so with that kind of error

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sasha to lawlers... 2011/02/13 19:24:35

I agree.

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shinx 2011/02/13 04:59:45

Yes

+1
If her baby is dead or deformed she should press charges.
This sickens me...how someone could be so careless. -.-'

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Zach055 2011/02/13 04:59:32

Yes

She should have looked at the label on the bottle. If you look closely, you'll see that the label has a description of what the pills look like.

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JanePrice 2011/02/13 04:02:37

Yes

+1
an accident , yer right and sorry aint going to cut it he took her babies life .he murder a unborn baby , send him to jail!!!!!!

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dubble0t 2011/02/13 03:18:30

Yes

+1
that poor girl :( i wouldn't blame her at all for pressing charges, that's absolutely awful

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Darnel 2011/02/13 02:49:27

Yes

Trick Question?

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Walks_on_Clouds 2011/02/13 02:28:07

Yes

Safeway murdered, plain and simple.

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nan 2011/02/13 02:16:29

Yes

These pharmacy's do this more than one realizes ..they should be made to pay for her even if nothing is wrong with the baby initally who is to say something won't happen to it laten in life due to this horrid mix up..Chemo is a horrid drug. Her stress alone is a problem at this stage of her pregnancy.

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Of Thee I Sing... 2011/02/13 02:14:59

Yes

Absolutely she should file charges.........In a heartbeat !

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RickiFlame 2011/02/13 02:13:00

Yes

*Chris Rock voice* HELL YES! They took her child's LIFE. That is unforgivable!

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Medulla Oblongata 2011/02/13 01:50:51

Yes

I didn't know which question to answer, dammit. In the end I decided to answer the question that brought me here, instead of the one at the end of the article.

I don't even know what to say right now.

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GarGirl 2011/02/13 00:48:46

Yes

Yes! they should be more careful and pay attention to what is being given and to who!

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teigan 2011/02/13 00:19:21

Yes

I think the question should be "Should she sue"? And the answer is yes.

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Emily_Lightning ~Final Fant... 2011/02/12 23:10:28

Yes

Oh my god! That's terrible!

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Apple 2011/02/12 22:41:36

Yes

+3
Absolutely. Being a pharmacy technician, I don't see how this could have "accidently" happened. I mean, there is a bar coding system implemented in most pharmacies for this reason. Mis-fills are common, but a good pharmacist OR technician should have been able to differentiate the appearance of the antibio and methotrexate. This is a critical mistake. YES! Press charges...and sue the hell out of them.

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bill 2011/02/12 22:07:41

No

+1
Cant comment,something smells about this artical

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nelipooh 2011/02/12 21:45:19

Yes

This is such an unfortunate story.... my heart goes out to her...

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Liza Jane 2011/02/12 21:38:41

Yes

Sure. She should also try reading her prescriptions before she takes pills...

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Apple to Liza Jane 2011/02/12 22:46:23

+2
Read her prescription? A lot of the time, doctors write for brand name and approve for generic. If anything, she might have thought she was getting the generic form of of prescription. This is in NO way her fault. She trusted a pharmacist to correctly fill her prescription and she/he failed to do so.

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Liza Jane to Apple 2011/02/12 23:04:09

+4
She showed her prescription on television in an interview; it was very clearly marked. It was definitely 90% of the fault of the pharmacist but no one should take anything until they've read the warnings, instructions, etc. on their medicine.

If she had taken the time to actually read the outside of her prescription she wouldn't have taken them in the first place and wouldn't have the chance of deformity to her baby. I say she deserves about 10% of the blame.

Trust me, any good defense attorney will bring that up if she sues them.

I always read my prescriptions just in case someone, somewhere, missed something.

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Apple to Liza Jane 2011/02/13 22:32:56

I understand your point. Unfortunately, it all boils down to trust. There is a lot of liability associated with a pharmacist's job, which is why bottles containing methotrexate are checked 2-3 times. Another issue I would like to bring up is a D.O.B. verification. This is done at the cash register and is an efficient way to make sure the medication getting to the correct patient. It should be asked BEFORE every transaction. Ask the D.O.B., and if it doesn't match, viola! CRISIS ADVERTED. This was a simple step not taken by the associate and it could have saved their asses.

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AC 2011/02/12 21:05:56

Yes

+1
Yes, when you are handing out prescriptions you literally take their life in your hands. Protocol MUST be strictly followed or face the consequences.

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JAA 2011/02/12 20:50:41

Yes

She has standing for a lawsuit for malpractice, but not for criminal negligence. Also, there needs to be damages in order for her to win a malpractice case. If it turns out there is no damage to the child, then she probably won't win a malpractice suit, either. In most states, I believe, she has until the child reaches age 18 + 2 years to file a lawsuit. That's plenty of time to determine if damage has occurred.

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