High Risk and High Alert Situations (Law and/or Patient Safety, Knowledge-based, Live)
This 60- to 90-minute presentation reviews 4 to 6 recent lawsuits that have involved pharmacists in institutional or ambulatory settings and discusses risk management approaches applicable to the practice setting. This program has been approved multiple times for pharmacy law CPE credit for both pharmacists and technicians. This was most recently presented at the New Drugs, New Laws program of the Washington State Pharmacy Association in March and April 2014. I will update and adapt this program to meet local needs, although most of the cases are from throughout the United States.
Recent topics have included:
- The effect of “tolling statutes” on negligence cases against pharmacies involving minors
- Lack of drug control in a nursing home leading to a murder
- A series of recent HIPAA violations by pharmacists that have led to lawsuits against pharmacies
- Serious injuries from lack of knowledge concerning glacial acetic acid
- Need for pharmacists involved in collaborative practice agreements to obtain informed consent or assure that it has been obtained
- Lawsuits arising from zolpidem use
- Recent lawsuits in US and Great Britain due to patient identification errors
- Compounding of a topical anesthetic when its intended use was for injection into the patient’s foot
Self-assessment questions using audience response are interspersed during the presentation.