There has been a spate of pharmacy mistakes surrounding dosages for methotrexate, a drug used to treat some kinds of arthritis and certain kinds of cancer.
Arthritis patients tend to be administered one dose per week. Cancer patients receive daily doses.
La Presse reports that over the past two years, pharmacists have mixed up the dosages 21 times, leading to hospital stays and, in some cases, death after arthritis sufferers received the heavier dosage.
Part of the problem is that more people, particularly seniors and those with complicated medical problems, are relying on pre-assembled pill boxes. The Order of Pharmacists says the boxes make it harder for both pharmacists and patients to catch mistakes.