Ohio Passes Act In Memory of Toddler Killed By Pharmacy Error
More than 2 years after her death, the parents of a two-year-old girl have succeeded in their personal crusade - the passing of an Ohio bill that would help reduce the kind of pharmacy errors that were responsible for her death. Emily Jerry died in March of 2006 after a hospital pharmacy technician compounded a chemotherapy drug, with a saline solution that had up to 26 times more salt than was needed for the treatment.
Emily had been diagnosed with an abdominal tumor, and had had been undergoing chemotherapy at the Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland. The cancer was almost gone, and her parents were looking forward to taking her home. A trip to Disneyland to celebrate the disappearance of the tumor had been planned, and all that was needed to say goodbye to the hospital was one last round of chemotherapy. Instead, Emily woke up after the treatment in severe pain and vomiting violently. She died three days later. It was later that the pharmacy technician's horrible pharmacy error came to light.
The technician was not charged because there are no regulations for pharmacy technicians in Ohio. She faced no disciplinary action. In her statement, she maintained that she had voiced her doubts about the composition of the solution to the pharmacist on duty that night, and he had "shrugged it off." Just before mixing the drug, the technician had apparently been surfing the Internet planning her wedding. The pharmacist, who was on duty at the time of the tragic mistake, has been indicted on charges of reckless homicide and involuntary manslaughter.
Now, a bill that was inspired by Emily's tragic and utterly preventable death has been approved by the Ohio state legislature. Emily's Act will seek to establish stricter regulations for pharmacy technicians, who will now be required to have at least a high school diploma, pass a state pharmacy proficiency exam and undergo criminal testing before they can show up for work.
There are two tragedies here – Emily's death, and the fact that it took the loss of a 2-year-old's life to wake up to the fact that too many patients were being subjected to the dangers posed by untrained and uninformed pharmacy technicians. For hospitals looking to cut their overheads, it makes cold financial sense to have a number of technicians who are responsible for checking dosages, and placing the medications into containers, because they can get by with paying them a lower wage. Senator Timothy Grendell, the bill's sponsor admitted that he had faced "resistance" from pharmacies over the proposed measure that would mean higher salaries for trained technicians who met the new standards.
In New Jersey, we're currently facing the prospect of a law that would limit a pharmacist's liability in the event of a mistake, so it's great news to have much needed legislation pushing for better standards elsewhere in the country.
