CLEVELAND, Ohio — Trade groups are preparing a legislative push to shield pharmacists from criminal prosecutions — disturbed by the potential of jail time for a Cleveland-area pharmacist after his mistake contributed to the death of a young girl.
“The day we start putting physicians, pharmacists, dentists and others in the health profession in jail for mistakes that were made, honestly, with no malice, is the day people choose not to be in the profession,” said Ernest Boyd, executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association.
Former pharmacist Eric Cropp faces up to five years in prison after pleading no contest Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter.
Cropp in February 2006 approved a pharmacy technician’s mix of chemotherapy solution for 2-year-old Emily Jerry, who was being treated at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. The mix was 23 percent salt-based when it should have been only 1 percent.
In state testimony later, the technician said she told Cropp there was something wrong with the mixture, though he still approved it. Emily died days later.
The case help spark scrutiny and reform of pharmacy technicians along with the prosecution of Cropp, who was stripped of his license in 2007 for his error in the Jerry case and 15 subsequent other errors. Ohio legislators passed Emily’s Law, which created licensing and minimum education requirements for pharmacy technicians — a change largely cheered by educators and others in the local industry. A federal version of the Ohio law, Emily’s Act, was introduced and referred to a Congressional subcommittee last year.
USA Today included the Jerrys in a series of stories on pharmacy errors that highlighted, among other things, how the volume of work and retail chains’ ties to oversight committees can contribute to errors.
But concern over Cropp’s fate — and its impact on the pharmacy industry — have grown. The non-profit Institute for Safe Medication Practices, which focuses on the prevention of medical errors, late last month (pdf) called the prosecution “inappropriate and unwarranted.” Cases like this could make pharmacists less likely to report errors and slow systemic change — things that are likely to prevent future tragedies, the institute stated.
“Criminal prosecution sends the false message that clinical perfection is an attainable goal, and that ‘good’ health-care practitioners never make errors and should be criminally punished if they are involved in an error,” the institute stated.
Ryan Miday, spokesman for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason whose office handed Cropp’s case, declined comment on the prosecution because the case is ongoing. Cropp is scheduled for sentencing in mid-July.
Boyd thinks that even Emily’s Law would not have prevented the 2-year-old’s death. “I have to tell you that no amount of testing would have solved this issue — which is that someone didn’t pay attention at the right time,” said Boyd, who said a civil trial would have been more appropriate in the Emily Jerry case.
The Ohio Pharmacists Association has joined “internal conversations” with other chapters and their national association about pushing for a kind of “no fault” system similar to what was approved in the 1970s by the Federal Aviation Administration, Boyd said. Under the FAA’s doctrine, pilots and controllers are immune from disciplinary actions if they file timely reports — the exception being for “reckless operations, criminal offenses, gross negligence, willful misconduct and accidents,” according to a history of the agency (pdf).
Boyd said pharmacy groups plan to be ready in about a year to begin a likely federal effort.
The Jerry family, in testimony two years ago in front of the Ohio Pharmacy Board, called Cropp’s actions reckless and an “inexcusable and intentional homicide” of their daughter. If that’s the case, not even an FAA-like policy would have protected the former pharmacist.
“Eric Cropp’s incompetence goes far beyond conducting one reckless act,” Kelly Jerry, Emily’s mother, stated to the board. “Eric Cropp consciously disregarded any and every set standard of protocol regarding patient safety.”
[Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.]
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A 2-year-old. A death. A pharmacist facing jail. What will spur lasting change? : MedCity News…
Will jailing a pharmacist for his mistake help stop future mistakes, or will keeping him our of jail and making changes to the system lead to reform? Or can we do both? A 2 year old is dead. What is justice?…
Comment by healthranker.com — May 14, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
ok this is really upseting
Comment by Cindy — May 14, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
ok i feel bad for the prents if your reading this i want to tell you that im terribly sorry about what happened to your daughter i would die for my babies.im sorry
Comment by Cindy — May 14, 2009 @ 1:12 pm
“The day we start putting physicians, pharmacists, dentists and others in the health profession in jail for mistakes that were made, honestly, with no malice, is the day people choose not to be in the profession,â€
Best quote in this article. I am very sorry for the tragic death of the young girl.
But criminalization of the non-intentional mistake is way to extreme, in my opinion.
Should cashier be put in jail for overcharging you for the bill?
Do you occasionally get the mail delivered to the wrong address?
Pharmacists, doctors, and nurses are as human as the cashiers or the mailmans?
I am nurse myself and understand that healthcare workers are human, too. We have to fix the system by making detecting error more efficient. Maybe the company should implement an appropriate disciplinary action or implement a computer dose-checking system. Criminalization is too extreme.
Comment by Mickey — May 20, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
The real tragedy here is that the grandfather had political connections to get the pharmacists license revoked and to have criminal prosecution brought. Malpractice is never a good thing, and in this case is devastating, but who would want to be a doctor or pharmacist when the least oversight could ruin your career and send you to jail.
Comment by Motherof2 — May 21, 2009 @ 11:27 am
[...] advocates have said pharmacists shouldn’t be punished criminally for accidents. Instead of punishments, some pharmacy groups have said offering immunity for most [...]
Comment by Ohio bill would criminalize non-reporting of serious pharmacy mistakes : MedCity News — June 3, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
[...] groups around the time of the plea called the prosecution inappropriate and unwarranted and are preparing a federal push to try and provide a level of immunity for pharmacists in accidental cases. The say cases like [...]
Comment by Pharmacist going to jail over role in 2-year-old’s death : MedCity News — August 14, 2009 @ 11:42 am
I really hope the parents of this child feel justified now that a pharmacist has lost his career will possibly go to jail. That will bring their daughter back to life. I am sure that they have never made a poor judgement call or a mistake in their entire life. It is refreshing that people like them are so perfect. This will most certainly create an environmnent of cover ups and lies. Why can’t they do something constructive such as work on a legislative level to change systems preventing error (Dennis Quaid managed to work heavily on this and he is a Hollywood actor not a polically connected rich person).
Yours,
A pharmacist who will from now on lie and cover up any evidence
Comment by ellenvogal — September 3, 2009 @ 6:34 am
I am a pharmacist myself and I would like to express my condolences to both the family of the 2 year old for their loss and the pharmacist/pharmacist’s family for the undue grief that they are currently experiencing.
I am a new pharmacist, but I have enough experience to know that these types of mistakes can and will most likely happen at least once to every pharmacist during the course of their career. It is just that most of the time they are caught by another person before they get to the patient or the adverse effects on the patient are not permanent. It is completely understandable if the pharmacist is sued or their liscence is taken away, but criminal charges are over the top. I am sure the pharmacist has already been punished enough by having to carry this around on his conscience.
I can’t help but feel disappointment in how the pharmacist has been treated.
Comment by Troy — September 24, 2009 @ 6:54 pm
Wow…everyone seems to forget that an innocent child died because of this incident…or accident as many are calling it. Read the ORC statute for involuntary manslughter. You will clearly see that it applies here. If you run a stop sign and strike and kill a pedestrian, isnt that vehicular manslaughter? Just cause it’s an accident does not proclude it from being criminal. Ever hear of the term “reckless”? How about “willful disregard”? Think about it…man cleaning a gun, accidentally goes off and kills a neighbor = involuntary manslughter. That man was dealing with a deadly weapon and he had the responsibility of making sure it was unloaded and safe. Just as a pharmacist deals with medications that, based on dosage and strength, can be deadly. That parmacist has the responsibility to make sure that the dosage is correct and safe. Of course there was no intent in this case…the pharmacist didnt mean to kill the child but his reckless and willful disregard for safety, no the less caused the death…and for that he should be held responsible.
Comment by Mike — October 1, 2009 @ 6:33 am
I want to express condolences to everyone involved as well. I also am a pharmacist. This may be a scandal to some but I guarantee that all health professionals make mistakes. In this case a child died and this is extremely tragic. If you walked a mile in the pharmacist’s shoes you would understand. Very often pharmacists are overworked. They are doing five things at one time. If people want a safer system they should be working to limit the number of orders a pharmacist must deal with in a given period of time. Instead people want their drugs NOW! and some will yell in the pharmacist’s face in order to get what they want. In this particular case there were a number of things that increased the stress on the pharmacist and increased the chances of an error. He was doing the best he could under the circumstances.
Comment by Mike Kolf RPh — November 27, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
Mike (that posted on 10/1)-
This was an honest mistake that ANYONE could have made. Evidently you are not a pharmacist or any type of healthcare worker. Until you walk one day in a pharmacist’s shoes you cannot judge. Have you ever made a mistake in your career? Should you be jailed for that mistake? Think if this were you or your family. I honestly don’t think that you would feel the same way as you speak of now. And I know that you make mistakes- you made a mistake in your spelling. Technically that would be considered misbranding of a drug and if an error occurred because of that you’re looking at jail time! Congrats!
Comment by Steph — December 16, 2009 @ 7:57 pm
Wow,
Have anyone realized that this pharmacist or any have saved countless lives and prevented numerous harm to many patients through out his/her carrer? Yes, mistakes are going to happen and with today’s increased demand for faster and quicker service or …as Mike K mentioned… They will yelled at you! I’m sure after this incident, many pharmacists will stop and think, wow, what a thankless job and it only take one time and you could be finished. No one wakes up one day and say to him or her self, I’m going to work to hurt someone. What gain will jail time do to this pharmacist? I’m ashamed at the Ohio Board’s decision to permanently take away his pharmacy license. Imagine, how many pharmacists will start going “underground”. Yes, we’re moving back to the dark ages and instead of improving our systems and processes to reduce and prevent future med errors, it will now only increase! As a former state commissioner on the MBOP, I say to those who want blood no matter what. Please stop and think of the direction we are heading toward. Is this what we really want for the future? Better yet, place yourself into a pharmacist’s shoes and see for yourself. I’m sure many pharmacists will be glad to show you what really goes on in today’s healthcare and how they work endless hours in the background literally saving lives! Thanks to some, we will be missing one colleague who have helped many in the past and will no longer be able to continue his badly needed service, because of a honest mistake.
Comment by Don Y. — December 31, 2009 @ 5:47 pm
This is a terrible travesty. The parents seem to want a scapegoat for their daughter’s death. I’m very sorry for their loss, but ruining this man’s life won’t bring their baby back. It was an honest mistake. I would feel the same way if I were them, but that’s why society has to be involved to keep a level of sanity.
Comment by Brig — February 16, 2010 @ 10:56 am
What has happened to our society that we are always on the side of the wrongdoer nowadays? Yes, it was a mistake. But it cost a 2 year old her life. Do you know anyone who is 2? Do you have any children? Grandshildren? Nieces? Nephews? That is the victim. Not an adult who made a mistake. If you are overwhlemed at work, whatever your profession, stand up and say so. Not realistic? Why not? Because you don’t want to deal with the possible unpleasant consequences of saying “I’m overwhelmed”? Well, how about if you let it go long enough for you to make a mistake that you kill a 2-year-old child. Might have been better to deal with an angry/annoyed boss.
Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody. And I don’t agree with criminal prosecution. But if you make a mistate significant enough to kill someone then perhaps you shouldn’t have a career where a small mistake could cost a life. Perhaps you need a particularly detailed person for that job.
Clearly there need to be more checks and balances in this industry. But don’t lose sight of the actual victim here: it’s the child, not the pharmacist.
Comment by Guest — February 16, 2010 @ 11:29 am
I am a pharmacist too. This is a dark day for the medical field. As it has been said before numerous times…it is a devastating tragedy that the little girl died. Yes, it is tragic but not CRIMINAL. The person that quoted some business about the driver who kills a person by accident is reckless…yes this is true…however, a person that accidently kills a person accidently while practicing a profession…medicine, pharmacy, nursing, etc. is governed by a different set of rules. In the due practice of a profession it is implied that a person is trying to help someone….NOT hurt them. When something goes wrong, which is always a consideration when getting medical care…it isn’t CRIMINAL…it is ALWAYS the possibility in getting help from a medical professional. Is it the dentist’s fault if someone dies due to a serious reaction to a sedative when doing a procedure? Is it the doctor’s fault if he accidently nicks a vein in a medical procedure and the patient bleeds out and dies? The answer is YES. However, it isn’t criminal. Putting our educated medical professionals in jail for something going wrong during the practice of their chosen profession is a HUGE miscarriage of justice. Yes, the punishment should be imposed…but jail time is not what should have been imposed. You people thinking that this was the right way to go really need to have your head examined by a shrink. However, there will be a small note at the bottom of the door with some type of disclaimer saying “care is now rendered at your own risk”. Idiots.
Comment by Steve H — February 20, 2010 @ 9:55 am
Criminal prosecution sends the false message that clinical perfection is an attainable goal, and that ‘good’ health-care practitioners never make errors and should be criminally punished if they are involved in an error,” the institute stated.Cases like this could make pharmacists less likely to report errors and slow systemic change things that are likely to prevent future tragedies, the institute stated.In such a situation the chemist and phermacist should be more careful about the medicine.
Comment by Vickie Tisdale — May 4, 2010 @ 6:18 am
We are all missing the most important issue here. WHY ARE WE ALLOW A TECHNICIAN INSTEAD OF A PHARMACIST TO COMPOUND DRUG??!!!! IT SHOULD BE AGAINST THE LAW FOR ANY NON LICENSED PHARMACIST TO COMPOUND DRUG..ESPECIALLY IV..FOR PATIENTS. I am a 15 years licensed pharmacist working in the hospital. I always felt very angry whenever they rotate me to go work in the IV room instead of outpatient clinic. They hired one pharmacist and 3 technicians and that one pharmacist are responsible in checking the work of the technicians. How am I going to check??? The technicians can put 2 banana juice into the iv bag and I wouldn’t be able to check. I can only check the bag visually and rely on the technician being competent enough to inject the right thing and right amount…which he claimed…into the bag. IT IS SO SCARY!!!!! The technician is not responsible..only I am responsible because I supposed to be CHECKING..a licensed pharmacist. And I am as a pharmacist are not suppose to compound any drug because THERE IS NO TIME!!! IT IS SO BUSY IN THE PHARMACY…SIX HUNDRED ORDERS..AND NON STOP PHONE CALLS FROM THREE PHONES INQUIRING PHARMACIST FOR DRUG INFORMATIONS…THAT IS WHY THE HOSPITAL HIRED 3 TECHS TO HELP ME. I AM SUPPOSE TO CHECK THEIR WORK.
I think the US government and management of the health care should be sued for running our healtcare system like this. They want to spend less money cutting cost on hiring staff. Replacing pharmacist with non licensed people called technicians. A licensed technician is not equal to a licensed pharmacist.
This is what our government is doing.
Comment by mina — July 20, 2010 @ 8:33 pm
I am terribly sorry for the loss of a little child. I have worked with Eric Cropp, and I found him to
be a kind pharmasist . There were many of time that he would go out of his way to help the elder
unserstand there medication. I think he was made a scapgoat. Pharmacy is not a easy job,we are
always told to increase the number of Rx’s per day. Many days we are so busy, that the pharmasist
can’t take a break. People are rude and want their medication right away, and can’t understand
why they have to wait. As a technician I and many other technicians are being yelled at because
they have to wait for their medication. or they don’t even know what medication their taking or
why the dr prescribed medicationl Many of time we work in a ethnic community and when I ask for
an address, they can’t tell me, or speak english, so that we don’t give them someone elses medication Again I’m sorry of the family’s lose of a children, but I also feel very sorry for Eric,he
will always have to live with what he did..
Comment by mary — August 18, 2010 @ 4:02 am
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