Reports Reveal That Walgreens Execs New of Prescription Error Risks
Although completely preventable, prescription drug mistakes are some of the most persistent and damaging medical errors that can happen and cause nearly 9,000 people to die as a result each year. And according to The New York Times in a report published on February 21, 2020, executives from a major U.S. drug store chain know all too well how those mistakes can happen but still did nothing to help. Walgreens executives knew of the complaints by pharmacy employees that “unreasonable” stress levels were leading to errors in filling prescriptions. Executives later removed the damaging remarks and “high level findings” from presentations created by a consulting service hired to examine the company’s computer system for filling prescriptions, the Times said.
- Amy Bixler, the director of pharmacy and retail operations at Walgreens, told consultants to delete a bullet point that mentioned how employees “sometimes skirted or completely ignored” proper procedures to meet corporate metrics.