Manchester Mother Claims Pharmacy Mix-up Put Son at Risk

By Dave Franzman, Reporter

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By Dave Franzman

Story Created: Aug 29, 2008 at 6:22 PM CST

Story Updated: Aug 29, 2008 at 6:25 PM CST

MANCHESTER- A Manchester mother said a pharmacy gave her seven-year-old son medicine intended for adult drug addicts.

Trudy Smith told TV9 she was expecting to refill her son's Ritalin prescription in early July. But instead she later discovered days later the pharmacy accidentally sent home Methadone pills in the Ritalin bottle.

Smith, who lives just outside Manchester, said she noticed the refill she had picked up for her son's attention deficit disorder was different. The pills were larger and a different color. But at first she wasn't concerned.

"Different shapes, different sizes, it always happens. I have another son who has the same medicine that comes with two different shapes. I didn't think anything of it," she said.

But Smith got really alarmed when she said her seven-year-old son Preston started acting lethargic and even began having hallucinations.

"He looked like a mummy. He was banging his head against the wall and stuff like that," she said.

Smith went back to Widner Drug in Manchester and discovered Preston had actually gotten Methadone pills. Methadone is most commonly prescribed for heroin and other drug addicts to control drug dependency.

Pharmacist Robert Sack admitted the mix-up when contacted by TV9 by phone. But he wouldn't explain how it happened. In a letter to the family, shown to TV9, Sack apologized for the stress or the error and offered $50 for expenses to take Preston to see out-of-town doctors.

Smith is now worried that even weeks later her son isn't back to normal. She is consulting specialists and the family is now talking to an attorney.

Officials at national groups that track prescription errors say such mix-ups are not that uncommon. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a "Med-Watch" program that compiles such reports nationwide. Since 2000, that program has recorded 95,000 such reports.

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