Ministry of Health requests strict handling of the case of mistakenly prescribing pregnancy-preserving medicine as abortion medicine

On April 2, the Department of Maternal and Child Health, Ministry of Health requested the Tien Giang Department of Health to urgently verify the issuance of abortion pills instead of pregnancy care pills to three pregnant women at Tan Phuoc District Medical Center and handle it strictly. Report promptly to the Ministry before 5:00 p.m. on April 5.

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In addition, the Ministry also requested the Department to direct all medical facilities in the province to review compliance with prescription and drug dispensing procedures according to current regulations on drug safety.

According to the Tan Phuoc District Medical Center, on March 9, three pregnant women were given a type of pregnancy medication, but upon examination, it was found to be an abortion pill. One of the pregnant women, after taking two of the 20 pills prescribed by the doctor, suffered a hemorrhage and the fetus died in the womb. Another pregnant woman also had symptoms of hemorrhage and was given timely emergency care so the fetus was safe. The remaining pregnant woman had not taken the medication yet and the center had the medication recalled.

The initial cause was determined by the Tan Phuoc District Medical Center to be that the names of the two drugs (abortion and pregnancy maintenance) were similar. The data in the center’s computer did not clearly state the drug content, leading to confusion when prescribing and dispensing the drugs.

The incident is being verified by the Tien Giang Provincial Department of Health.

Earlier in January, a similar incident occurred at Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital. A pregnant woman with a threatened miscarriage was prescribed medication to keep the pregnancy. However, when dispensing the medication, the midwife mistakenly gave her medication to remove the stillbirth of another pregnant woman in the same room.