A Bremo pharmacy patient was admitted to the emergency room (ER) for a very high blood pressure emergency late on a Saturday night. The patient was discharged with prescriptions for two blood pressure medications. The patient’s caregiver was able to call the Bremo pharmacist after-hours line to check if the prescriptions could be
filled instead of filling them at another local 24-hour pharmacy.
When the Bremo pharmacist, Keith Kittinger was checking the ER records and the prescriptions written in the ER, he realized the medications doses were too high. Also, the patient was already on very high doses of blood pressure medications before coming to the ER. If the patient received both of the new prescriptions in addition to all the medications he already took regularly, it could have caused a very low drop in blood pressure and resulted in serious side effects.
So Keith called the ER to clarify the prescriptions. After discussing the pharmacists concerns about the new medications, the doctor agreed with the pharmacist’s recommendations of not filling the new prescription. The pharmacist was able to keep the patient safe and avoid any side effects.
From this situation, our pharmacists want to stress that it is very important to keep a complete accurate medication list on hand. Ask your Bremo pharmacist how you can get a pocket list of your current medications today. Bremo Pharmacy offers a program called, SyncRx, which allows pharmacists to fill all your medications at one pharmacy at the same time each month. This allows the pharmacists to look at your complete medication list. Your Bremo pharmacist reviews all your medications to ensure together they are all correct and appropriate for you.
To learn more about how to stay safe with your medications, see Bremo Pharmacy’s “Medication Safety Tips for Older Adults” and “5 Ways to Get Your Medications Organized“.
