A Las Vegas woman, Timika Thomas, suffered the tragic loss of her unborn child due to a medication error by CVS Pharmacy.
Thomas, who had been undergoing in-vitro fertilization treatment, was mistakenly given an abortifacient instead of the prescribed hormone intended to simulate pregnancy, according to 8 News Now.
Thomas described the pain she experienced as "extreme" and beyond what she had anticipated for the IVF process. "They just killed my baby," she reportedly told herself after realizing the grave error.
Thomas pointed out that the pharmacy staff failed to provide her with counsel when she collected the medication, a step that could have potentially averted the tragedy. "It would have been caught because then they would have had to have the medicine in their hand," she said. "And they would have said, 'Oh, this is Misoprostol or Cytotec. Have you taken this before?' And I would have said 'no.'"
In response to the incident, CVS issued a statement to 8 News Now, expressing regret for the 2019 incident and affirming their commitment to patient safety. "We've apologized to our patient for the prescription incident... 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," the statement read.
The Nevada Board of Pharmacy has temporarily suspended the licenses of the pharmacists involved, pending the payment of fines and further education. The board has also reportedly levied a $10,000 fine against CVS.
Despite the actions taken, Thomas remains dissatisfied. "All I got was a sorry," she said. "It will never be good enough."
The incident comes in the wake of the FDA's decision in January to allow retail pharmacies to sell abortifacients. Both CVS and Walgreens announced plans to become certified to sell the abortion pill, mifepristone.
This decision has sparked controversy, with a group of 20 Republican attorneys general warning that selling abortion pills by mail could endanger women and was illegal. However, the DOJ maintained in January that mail-order abortion pills do not violate federal law and have uses beyond abortion.
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