COMOX, British Columbia (WKRC) – A pharmacy error nearly resulted in a dangerous mix-up for a 9-year-old boy when he was mistakenly given a potent opioid instead of his prescribed ADHD medication.
Sarah Paquin recounted the alarming incident involving her son, Declan, who takes dextroamphetamine for ADHD, PEOPLE reported.
“It’s very chaotic in the morning, and if my husband had just been distracted with the other two, or been tired from being up with the baby the night before, this could have ended totally differently,” said Sarah, PEOPLE reported.
Her husband, David, discovered the error when he noticed the prescription bottle contained hydromorphone, a powerful opioid.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency describes hydromorphone as having “potency approximately two to eight times greater than that of morphine and has a rapid onset of action,” and the National Library of Medicine warns that “accidental ingestion or intentional abuse can lead to overdose and potentially life-threatening respiratory depression.”
Loblaw Companies Ltd. acknowledged the mistake in a statement to PEOPLE, attributing it to human error.
“Thankfully my husband caught it before he took any of it,” said Sarah, PEOPLE reported. “To do that to a 9-year-old child, it would have been devastating.”
Declan’s correct medication was eventually found in the pharmacy’s outgoing box but the family decided not to return to the pharmacy, PEOPLE reported.