A Dublin-based pharmacist supplied an incorrect blister pack of medication to an elderly patient, a Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) inquiry has heard.
After taking the medication, the woman became unwell and she was later hospitalised.
Barinedum Yorkuri, a registered pharmacist since 2018, admitted to the factual allegations.
At a PSI professional conduct inquiry on Thursday it was alleged that while working at Cappagh Pharmacy, Unit 5, The Shops, Barry Avenue, Finglas, he supplied or caused to be supplied to a then 82 year-old woman an incorrect blister pack of medications.
He agreed not to repeat the mistake and to retake two Irish Institute of Pharmacy courses.
It was also alleged that the medications in the pack he supplied were not prescribed to the patient, whose identity was anonymised to patient A. and that they were not clinically appropriate.
Blister pack medication is a seven-day storage system that organises tablets into sealed, labelled plastic or foil compartments arranged by date and time.
Members of patient A’s family were in attendance at the inquiry.
Patient A, who died in May 2022, took some of the medication in April 2021. Soon after she became lethargic and unwell.
Her daughter, referred to as witness C, informed the pharmacy and brought her mother there where Yorkuri checked her blood pressure. Patient A was also visited at her home by the superintendent pharmacist, Fergal Cadden. However, after she became dizzy and unwell, an ambulance was called for her and she collapsed.
She was brought to hospital where she was found to have very low blood pressure and experienced dizzy spells. The inquiry heard she was ultimately admitted to hospital on two occasions and spent over a week there.
The inquiry heard that subsequent to the incident the pharmacy put new procedures in place to ensure the dispensing error would not happen again.
Although it was alleged that Yorkuri’s conduct amounted to poor professional performance, the committee agreed to the registrant’s application for undertakings by him and so no findings would be made against him.
Barrister Susan Ahern, chairwoman of the committee, said the dispensing error “should not have occurred” but that it was an isolated error for which Yorkuri had apologised.
Before the incident and since, Yorkuri has had an unblemished record, the committee heard.
At the conclusion of the inquiry a tearful Yorkuri knelt before A’s family members and said he was sorry. They accepted Yorkuri’s apology and encouraged him to get on with the life ahead of him.