Blundering pharmacy gave children breast cancer drugs instead of anti-tooth decay medicine

Children who may have taken breast cancer treatment medication mistakenly distributed by an American pharmacy instead of prescribed fluoride pills likely won't suffer any health problems, a pharmaceutical expert says.



CVS Caremark officials say only a few children ingested pills for breast cancer treatment that they mistakenly received, and company investigators are still working to determine how and why the errors occurred at the pharmacy in New Jersey.



The pharmacy has acknowledged improperly dispensing Tamoxifen instead of chewable fluoride tablets to children in as many as 50 families between Dec. 1 and Feb. 20.

Accident: Officials say only a few children ingested pills for breast cancer treatment that they mistakenly received

CVS Caremark runs the second-largest chain of drugstores in the U.S., after Walgreen.



'Fortunately, it's very unlikely that this specific drug would cause any serious or adverse effects when used for only a short periods of time,' said Daniel Hussar, a professor with the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at the University of the Sciences.



CVS said it had spoken with or left messages for every family whose child was dispensed a 0.5 mg fluoride prescription from its Chatham, NJ, location within the past 60 days.



CVS pharmacy has acknowledged improperly dispensing Tamoxifen instead of chewable fluoride tablets to children in as many as 50 families

The company issued a statement saying it was 'deeply sorry for the mistake that occurred,' although it did not explain how the mistake happened.



Mike DeAngelis, CVS Caremark's director of public relations, has said that 'most of the families we have spoken to did not indicate that their children received any incorrect pills.' No injuries related to the mix-up have been reported.



Officials say the two pills are similar looking but have distinctively different tastes.

