A Las Vegas CVS Pharmacy is under fire after allegedly misfilling a prescription. But according to the customer, it was more than a simple mix-up. The mistake allegedly caused the pregnant mother to terminate her pregnancy unknowingly.
Tim-ika Thomas told KLAS that the employees at CVS allegedly gave her the wrong medication, which caused a miscarriage. Despite the tragic outcome, Thomas claims all she got was an apology. The simple "I'm sorry," however, will never take away her pain.
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Even though she had a large family, the mom wanted another baby.
The mother explained to KLAS that she didn't grow up in a large family but hoped to have one of her own someday, so she decided to create one. She was already a mother of four, but one more baby would complete her family.
In 2019, while in her 30s, she and her husband tried for baby number five. But things didn't happen naturally, so the family turned to IVF for help.
Thomas was ready to get pregnant.
She went to the hospital and had two embryos inserted, and doctors gave her prescriptions to take to help kickstart a pregnancy.
"You have to make yourself think it's pregnant," Thomas told KLAS. "We're taking a lot of supplements to make our bodies think it's pregnant."
The couple had tried IVF before, but it wasn't successful. During previous attempts, she took hormone injections in her buttocks. This time, the doctor prescribed a vaginal suppository. She filled the prescription at the CVS branch at W. Craig Road and Camino Al Norte in North Las Vegas.
After taking two of the suppositories, she knew something was wrong.
The mother of four began to cramp. Although cramping during IVF is expected, these cramps were much more intense.
"My cramping went beyond that," she said. "It was extreme. It was painful."
She looked at the bottle for potential side effects and saw the medication is used for abortion. The pharmacy technician allegedly gave Thomas the wrong medication, which may have caused her to lose her pregnancy.
Documentation reportedly revealed a series of errors.
KLAS reported that it obtained documentation outlining mistakes made by the pharmacy. One technician allegedly was incorrect about the generic name for the medication, and pharmacists reportedly didn't catch the error. Then, a second pharmacist allegedly failed to counsel Thomas on the prescription when she came to pick it up.
The error "would have been caught because then they would have had to have the medicine in their hand," Thomas said. "And they would have said, 'Oh, this is Misoprostol or Cytotek, have you taken this before?' and I would have said 'no.'"
Thomas filed a complaint with the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy, giving heartbreaking testimony.
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The pharmacists each received a fine.
The state board suspended the pharmacists' licenses for 12 months and issued a $10,000 fine. If they avoid any disciplinary action, pay a fine, and take continuing education courses, their licenses will be reinstated in a year, KLAS reported.
The pharmacists reportedly apologized at the hearing, claiming it was a terrible mistake. "It's a human error," one pharmacist cried. "It was just a human error and I'm so sorry."
CVS issued a statement to KLAS.
"We've apologized to our patient for the prescription incident that occurred in 2019 and have cooperated with the Nevada Board of Pharmacy in this matter. The health and well-being of our patients is our number one priority and we have comprehensive policies and procedures in place to support prescription safety. Prescription errors are very rare, but if one does occur, we take steps to learn from it in order to continuously improve quality and patient safety," the statement reads.
Thomas said she was insulted, and even though CVS said it was sorry, it will never change what happened. "All I got was a sorry," she said, per KLAS. "It will never be good enough."
