UPCOMING LOCAL COMMUNITY EVENTS TAMPA BAY-HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
February 24, 2009 - All Day
FREE Short Stack of Pancakes with donation to Children's
Miracle Network
International House of Pancakes
802 S. Dale Mabry Highway
Tampa, FL 33609
**all International House of Pancakes will be having this promotion, the above location only, will give you a card for 10% off your next visit if you mention you saw this ad in this newsletter**
February 25, 2009 - 8:00 am to 2:00 pm
Hillsborough County Science Fair
University of South Florida
4202 East Fowler Avenue
Tampa, FL 33620
February 26, 2009 to March 8, 2009
Florida Strawberry Festival
Plant City, Florida
March 1, 2009
Gasparilla Distance Classic
Tampa, FL
ST. PETERSBURG-PINELLAS COUNTY
February 28, 2009 7:00 pm
2009 Big Band Dance: Tribute to Harry James and Andrews
Sisters
The Coliseum535 Fourth Avenue North
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
March 1, 2009 3:00 pm
Awesome 80's Prom
The Murray Studio Theater of Ruth Eckerd Hall
1111 McMullen Booth Road
Clearwater, FL 33759
March 2, 2009 6:30 pm
Community Development Advisory Board Meeting
City of Largo
MEDICATION ERROR LAW & STATISTICS
Every year, the health of millions of Americans and thousands of Floridians is seriously compromised as the result of defective drugs and medication errors. The term “medication error†refers to any incident in which a doctor, hospital, or pharmacy makes a mistake with regards to a patient's medication that results in serious harm, injury, or death to the patient. There are many different types of medication errors, including:
- Prescribing the wrong drug for the patient's condition
- Prescribing the wrong dosage
- Failure to check that multiple medications or prescriptions will not cause harm to the patient
- Providing incorrect dosage instructions
- Pharmacy errors
- Failure to monitor the amount of medication being given to a patient
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more people die in a given year as a result of medical errors than from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. Furthermore, according to The Lancet (one of the world's leading medical journals), medication errors alone, occurring either in or out of the hospital, are estimated to account for 7,000 deaths annually. And the Agency for Health Research and Quality found that adverse drug events cause more than 770,000 injuries and deaths each year, and cost up to $5.6 million per hospital.
Recently, Johnson & Johnson has recalled the Duragesic Pain Patch after defects in the patch lead to accidental overdoses. Johnson & Johnson recalled about 32 million of the fentanyl containing patches. The company is estimating that about two out of every million patches could be defective. The pain patches were designed to treat those with persistent, moderate to severe chronic pain. Fentanyl is a highly addictive pain medication that is 80 times more potent than morphine, and is associated with a high risk for fatal overdose. The recall was announced after some Duragesic pain patches were sliced around the edge that contains the fentanyl gel, which could result in the gel leaking. Direct exposure to the gel can cause serious harm, including breathing problems and overdosing, which can be fatal.
All of the recalled patches had an expiration date on or before December 2009. If you have purchased the 50 mcg/hr Duragesic or the 50 mcg/hr Sandoz, Inc. pain patches, you should check the lot numbers on the box. If your box matches Duragesic lot number 0817239 or Sandoz, Inc. lot number 0816851, you should call the following the numbers:
Sandoz, Inc: 800- 901-7236
Duragesic: 800-547-6446
BLOG
This month's blog article is Florida Pharmacist Fined After Toddler Dies. This article can be viewed by clicking by clicking here. The Distasio Law Firm publishes a blog called http://www.tampainjurylawblog.com/. To subscribe to our blog, just visit the website by clicking here, and then scroll down the right hand side to the subscribe section. Click the news feed that is most compatible with your computer, and follow the directions. As soon as a blog article is published, it will be sent directly to your computer.
THE FIRM
Distasio Law Firm is a Tampa-based personal injury law firm that is devoted exclusively to handling cases involving Florida personal injury and accidents. A portion of our practice is devoted solely to handling cases involving Florida medication errors and pharmacy malpractice. In this area of law, we accept cases involving dangerous or recalled drugs, pharmacy negligence, pharmacy dispensing errors, doctor medication mistakes, hospital medication mistakes, wrongly prescribed drugs, and incorrect dosage instructions. At Distasio Law Firm, we welcome referrals from clients, family and friends of clients, and from other lawyers.