KEY POINTS:
Pharmacists believe patients throughout New Zealand are at risk from errors in computer-generated prescriptions after the death of an elderly Nelson woman apparently given the wrong dosage.
Hilda Sixtus died after she was prescribed a potent anti-cancer drug with incorrect instructions.
The case has been cited as a tragic example of errors occurring with the computer software most GPs now use to prescribe drugs.
While usually pharmacists will pick up errors in the type or dosage of medicine before dispensing it, they concede there is always the risk of mistakes being missed.
The Weekend Herald understands the drug prescribed to Mrs Sixtus should have been taken only once a week to give her immune system time to recover, but the incorrect prescription stated a daily dose.
Her son, Barry Sixtus, told the Weekend Herald he did not want to comment on the case until the full facts were heard, but he felt it was an issue that should be out in public.
Police have looked into the matter and found no basis for criminal charges. The death of Mrs Sixtus, in October 2006, will be considered by a coroner.
About 50 million prescriptions are dispensed each year, and Pharmacy Guild chief executive Annabel Young said that while the error rate was very low, "every script has the potential to be wrong".
Nelson pharmacist Gary Chalmers is leading calls for the software to be improved. It was a friend of his who dispensed the prescription to Mrs Sixtus, and the trauma of it had led him to quit the profession.
"We're not blaming the doctors for what they produce. They have a compromised bit of software and that has led to at least frustration for us, and some danger it could turn into something more serious."
Pharmaceutical Society national president Chris Budgen said the issue had been an "open sore" for years, irritating GPs and pharmacists and sometimes threatening the safety of patients.
"Very early on there should have been a strong consensus that GPs and pharmacists should use the same system," he said.
The Medical Association, representing GPs, said it was crucial doctors checked the prescription information they signed.
The software used by the majority of GPs to generate their prescriptions is called MedTech 32.
The supplier, MedTech Global, said the issues raised about software-driven prescriptions "pinpoint several problems which Medtech Global has been working to help resolve".
Mr Budgen understood work was under way in a ministerial committee to try to address some of the issues.
MARGIN OF ERROR
* GPs who previously used hand-written notes to give prescriptions to their patients now have computer software that enables them to enter the necessary information and generate them electronically.
* These computer-generated prescriptions are passed to pharmacists to dispense the medicines.
* Because the software is not always up to date, or defaults are sometimes added when certain information is not entered by the GP, the type, amount or dosage of medicine produced can be wrong.
* Patients unsure about the medicines they are prescribed are urged to raise any concerns with their GP or pharmacist.
