NJ Pharmacy Accidentally Gives Kids Cancer Meds for Cavities
A New Jersey CVS pharmacy accidentally dispensed breast cancer drugs instead of chewable fluoride tablets to children in about 50 families between Dec. 1 and Feb. 20.
However, CVS Caremark officials said that just a few children had taken the Tamoxifen breast cancer drug that had mistakenly received, and that they are still trying to find out why the errors at the Chatham pharmacy occurred.
“It’s something that’s very disheartening to see that happen and who knows what else they did wrong,” said parent Davin Clark, according to Mason County Daily News.
“The health and safety of our customers is our highest priority and we are deeply sorry for the mistake that occurred at our Chatham, NJ pharmacy. Beginning last week, we have contacted or have left messages for every family whose child was dispensed a 0.5 mg fluoride prescription from our Chatham location within the past 60 days,” CVS Caremark said in a statement to ABC News.
“Fortunately, most of the families we have spoken to did not indicate that their children received any incorrect pills. We will continue to follow up with families who believe that their children may have ingested incorrect medication,” the pharmacy added.
“It's very unlikely that this specific drug would cause any serious or adverse effects when used for only a short period of time,' said Daniel Hussar, a professor with the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at the University of the Sciences, according to the Daily Mail.
The pharmaceutical company is expected to provide the information by Wednesday, and company representatives will be questioned under oath on Friday, according to an order signed by division Director Thomas Calcagni that is supposed to look into whether any laws had been broken, according to Mercury news.
CVS Caremark is the second largest chain of drugstores after Walgreens.