Target Pharmacy Error Sends 2 Kids To ER

OVIEDO, Fla.,None — Two children got the right prescription from a Target pharmacy, but the wrong dosage. An Oviedo mother says she had to take her kids to an emergency room after she was instructed to give them a dangerously high dose.

Now, she wants Target to at least cover the cost of their emergency room visit.

The two children were prescribed the allergy drug Allegra, but the mother says the pharmacist instructed her to give the children five times the normal dosage.

Call it mother's intuition. Martha Bethancourt-Garner thought her children were acting a little strangely in the days after she picked up their allergy medication. When she returned to her Oviedo pharmacy for an Allegra refill, she got a shock. The dosage read one teaspoon every 12 hours. The prescription filled just days earlier read five teaspoons every 12 hours.

"I was very worried that my kids may have been harmed. I was extremely grateful to God, I'm a person of faith, that he watched over them" Garner said.

The Oviedo mom immediately contacted poison control and her pediatrician. She was told to seek medical attention since an overdose of her children's antihistamine could have lead to an irregular heart beat or organ failure. She rushed 5-year-old Lille and 6-year-old Anthony to the nearest emergency room.

"They are little kids and they had to be poked and prodded and be in pain," Garner said.

Panic gave way to worry; the mom wanted to know how this could have happened. When the answers didn't come fast enough, she called WFTV and attorney Nancy Davito.

"She never would have given her child five times a day and she's heartbroken over it," Davito said.

Garner was worried about any lingering effects.

"We apologize for this error and for the inconvenience this has caused. Our goal is to deliver superior guest service, accuracy and safety in our pharmacy," a Target spokesman told WFTV.

"I have faith that we can work with Target and get to the bottom of it," Davito said.

The Oviedo mom's attorney told WFTV there's no way to know if this was a human error on the part of a pharmacists or a technician, or even if the instructions were clearly communicated to the pharmacy.

Target said all errors are tracked and responded to.

WFTV