{"id":269756,"date":"2026-02-05T23:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T23:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/269756\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T23:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T23:47:08","slug":"pharmacy-apologises-after-customers-given-wrong-medicines-scripts-in-broome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/269756\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharmacy apologises after customers given wrong medicines, scripts in Broome"},"content":{"rendered":"

The owner of two pharmacies in Western Australia’s Kimberley has apologised for causing “distress and inconvenience” to its customers by dispensing the wrong medicines.<\/p>\n

More than a dozen people have come forward with stories of being given someone else’s labelled medicine, the incorrect medication and missing prescriptions in Broome.<\/p>\n

Other complaints detailed long delays in supplies and shortages.<\/p>\n

The Broome and Chinatown pharmacies were taken over by Darwin-based conglomerate Northpharm in June 2025, the company’s first foray into the WA market.<\/p>\n

“It was lucky I checked it because I can have severe reactions to the wrong medications,” said D, who did not want to be identified, about her prescription mix-up.<\/p>\n

“It was in my name, but it was the wrong medication.”<\/p>\n

A regular customer of both pharmacies for more than four years, D said customer service had slipped under the new owners.<\/p>\n

She was told her medication, already delayed in ordering, would now need to be re-ordered.<\/p>\n

“I can’t be without this medication for that much longer,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n

File photo. A chemist customer told the ABC she is “deeply concerned” about being given the incorrect medication. (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)<\/p>\n

D said her father and two friends of her aging parents had also been given “wrong scripts” from the two chemists.<\/p>\n

The family has now taken their business to a third pharmacy in Broome, which is independently owned.<\/p>\n

“For people that don’t look over things, maybe elderly people, it’s really quite risky \u2026 it could have severe consequences,” D said.<\/p>\n

Another woman the ABC has spoken to confirmed her daughter’s essential medication was given to someone else.<\/p>\n

“This is the problem with legalities not requiring identification upon receipt of a script,” the mother said.<\/p>\n

“It was a drug that shouldn’t be carelessly mishandled.<\/p>\n

“I know it’s a decent stuff-up and very careless but not something that I wanted to report.”<\/p>\n

\"packets<\/p>\n

File photo. The pharmacy’s owner will review its dispensing guidelines in light of customer concerns. (ABC Kimberley: Vanessa Mills)<\/p>\n

More care needed<\/p>\n

Scott, who did not want his surname used, said he had been given medications labelled for other people twice, as well as a complete book of prescriptions in someone else’s name.<\/p>\n

He also said the chemist lost his prescriptions.<\/p>\n

“I told them they need to be more careful,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I could have taken the wrong medication.”<\/p>\n

The long-term Broome resident said he had been using the pharmacies without issue for “years” but only encountered problems after the ownership change.<\/p>\n

“What worries me is someone else is getting wrong medication,” the 50-year-old said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

File photo. The pharmacy has apologised to customers. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n

Pharmacy staff are traditionally amongst the most trusted community members in country towns, owing to their knowledge of locals’ health.<\/p>\n

None of the five people the ABC spoke to wanted to be identified because of the consequences of living in a small town.<\/p>\n

Another woman, who is recovering from an injury and unable to drive while on crutches, told ABC Kimberley she would not go back to either Northpharm pharmacies “unless it’s an emergency”.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t receive one of the prescriptions I put in,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I waited an hour and 15 [minutes] and when I complained I was rudely told the pharmacist was “just checking my order” and “at least I can be guaranteed” it was correct.<\/p>\n

“I only realised once I got home the one medication I desperately needed was not in the bag.”<\/p>\n

Medication dispensing to be reviewed<\/p>\n

Northpharm has apologised to customers who had been caused “distress or inconvenience”.<\/p>\n

“Northpharm strives to exceed the expectations of our customers and we take any complaints about our services extremely seriously,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

The company, which is owned by Kongvic Langwarrin Pty Ltd, said it would increase staff training in light of the community concerns.<\/p>\n

“We have reinforced dispensing guidelines and will also be implementing additional training \u2026 and ensure the highest standards of care for our community,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

“We apologise for any distress or inconvenience to any customers. Should anyone have concerns we urge them to contact us directly.”<\/p>\n

D said she wanted pharmacies to scrutinise their management and how they dealt with customers’ prescriptions.<\/p>\n

“I’m deeply concerned \u2026 that it could happen to someone else and that would be a horrible thing,” she said.<\/p>\n

“There needs to be a serious look at how they’re doing things to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The owner of two pharmacies in Western Australia’s Kimberley has apologised for causing “distress and inconvenience” to its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[153006,153010,153007,134,524,111,139,153008,69,3194,32221,5013,153005,153009],"class_list":{"0":"post-269756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-broome-chemist","9":"tag-broome-news","10":"tag-broome-pharmacies","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-medication","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-northpharm","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-pharmacy","18":"tag-prescription","19":"tag-wa-news","20":"tag-wrong-medicines","21":"tag-wrong-prescription"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}