We have been reporting about pharmacy medication errors over the last several months that have resulted in serious personal injuries to patients. Now, CBS News is reporting that hundreds of medication administration errors are being committed by local pharmacists. CBS talked to Kory Shahani who nearly died from pills prescribed to keep epilepsy under control. But a pharmacist mislabeled the dosage on the bottle. Shahani blacked out, hit his head and woke up in a pool of blood.

But the pharmacist who made the medication error was not fired or even cited. In fact, CBS News reports that hundreds of pharmacists are still working after being cited for serious prescription errors. And these citations are not readily available to the public. CBS uncovered these citations. One of the citations handed out to a pharmacy was when the anti-depressant Anafranil was mistakenly given instead of Fosinopril, a heart medication. The pharmacy was cited and fined. But no one knows what happened to the patient. This could've been a fatal error.

About 51 million prescription errors are made each year, according to a study done recently by Auburn University. Los Angeles ranks second in the nation in prescription mistakes, second to Dallas-Fort Worth. Experts and former pharmacy technicians say this is because pharmacy staff is trying to do too much too quickly. However, what is disturbing is that pharmacists are not required to report their mistakes to the state. The citations are issued only if and when a consumer files a complaint. What that means is that there are many more mistakes and incidents that occur that we don't even hear about.

The state pharmacy board says out of 370 million prescriptions filled each year in California, the errors are few. In the business of medication, there is really no room for errors. Mistakes happen and that is human nature, but when it happens and especially when it causes injury or death, the person who made the error and his or her employer should be held accountable for it. The public has the right to know about it.

If you have been a victim of pharmacy errors or have been seriously injured or lost a loved one, I'd like to hear about it.

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