IS YOUR PHARMACY ERROR-PROOF, OR IS IT A PRESCRIPTION FOR DISASTER?
A BRIAN ROSS EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION, ON ABC NEWS� �20/20,� FRIDAY, MARCH 30
Also: Barbara Walters Interviews Presidential Candidate Rudy Giuliani�s Wife,
Judith Giuliani; Former Mayor Joins Interview
After reports from around the country of devastating prescription errors, ABC News� �20/20� embarked on a four-month investigation led by ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross to examine what some industry experts fear is an unreported epidemic of pharmacy errors at the country�s fast growing chain drug stores. As Ross reports, overworked pharmacists are pushed to fill prescriptions at a fast pace and frequently rely on pharmacy technicians -- who often are just high school students -- to actually fill the prescriptions. �20/20� cameras go undercover to investigate the rate of error and find a widespread failure to spot potentially dangerous drug interactions, and customers signing away their right to get information on the drugs they are taking without realizing it. The exclusive report airs on �20/20� on FRIDAY, MARCH 30 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.
Mary Ann Wagner, senior vice president of the Washington, DC trade group representing the big drug store chains, said huge sums of money are being spent in new training and high tech programs that help prevent errors in the billions of prescriptions filled by the chains each year, and that �patient safety is our number one concern.� But she cannot answer Ross� question -- �how can you say this industry is taking serious steps to prevent errors if they don�t even know how big the problem is?� -- because, in all but four states, the industry is not required to report pharmacy errors, even those resulting in serious injury or death.
Ross also reports on cases in which pharmacy errors led to a devastating brain injury for a four-month-old baby in suburban Chicago and a crippling stroke for a mother of three from Florida who was given a dosage 10 times higher than what her doctor prescribed.
Plus: Barbara Walters interviews Judith Giuliani, wife of presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. This is her first in-depth television interview since becoming Mrs. Giuliani, and she responds to numerous questions, including whether she was responsible for the break-up of her husband�s second marriage, her relationship with her step children, the role she will play in her husband�s campaign and what kind of First Lady she would be. Former Mayor Giuliani also joins in the far-reaching interview and addresses these and other topics.
Also: Should cops be held accountable when innocent bystanders are killed during high speed police chases? Bill Ritter reports on a tragic accident in New Jersey last September that took the lives of two teenage sisters when a State Trooper ran a stop sign at high speed, hitting the girls in their car.
�20/20� is anchored by Elizabeth Vargas and John Stossel. David Sloan is executive producer.
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