A Taunton family plans to sue a major pharmacy chain, claiming prescription problems at CVS could have turned out deadly for their child. Fortunately, nothing happened to Cymaiya McCarthy as a result of the medication error. But her family says the anguish caused by the incident was so traumatic that they're suing CVS. 7Healthcast Reporter Doctor Deanna Lites has more.
Maria Bettencourt says she feels blessed that her two-year-old daughter, Cymaiya, is in good health. Maria says when Cymaiya was just a few weeks old she couldn't keep her baby formula down, so her doctor prescribed Zantac. Maria says CVS Pharmacy gave her the wrong syringe to administer the medicine.
Maria says, "I was giving her four times the amount."
When Maria realized what happened, she says, "What went through my mind as a parent, I just overdosed my child. I thought I killed my child. I thought I was going to jail because of overdosing my child and that is such a scary feeling because I would never harm a child."
Maria says Cymaiya had to have some medical tests done after the incident and today the family filed a lawsuit against CVS in Taunton District Court.
Maria says, "We do want the money for Cymaiya's sake, she deserves that money. She can go to college. But for me, I think CVS should pay for the damage they did."
This isn't the first time CVS has been accused of medication mix-ups. A state investigation found dozens of prescription errors.
Now in an agreement between CVS and the State Board of Pharmacy, a non-profit patient safety group will evaluate and monitor CVS Pharmacies in the Bay State for the next two years.
But that doesn't matter to Maria, who says, "I don't care what they do because I would never put my foot back in there."
The Taunton family is set to square off against CVS in a courtroom on May 17th.
(Copyright (c) 2006 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
