Pharmacy accidentally gives abortion pills to patient undergoing IVF

A Las Vegas woman undergoing IVF to expand her family was mistakenly given abortion medication — not fertility medication — by her local pharmacy, terminating her pregnancy in its early stages.

“They just killed my baby,” Tamika Thomas told 8 News Now. “Both my babies, because I transferred two embryos.”

The mom of 4 had been undergoing in vitro fertilization, a lengthy process in which fertilized embryos are implanted in the uterus to lead to a successful pregnancy, according to the Mayo Clinic. She and her husband had turned to IVF after having her Fallopian tubes removed, and they had paid for the expensive procedure out-of-pocket.

Thomas had just had two embryos transferred when she went to pick up medication to help her body “think it’s pregnant.”

But pharmacy technicians at her North Las Vegas CVS gave her Misoprostol instead, which is used for “medication abortion,” according to the National Institute of Health.

Thomas brought a complaint to the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy, which, according to board documents, found that the pharmacy made a series of errors: When no one could read Thomas’ doctor’s handwriting on the prescription, that technicians guessed and gave her Misoprostol — instead of calling the doctor, per 8 News Now.

Then, when dispensing the medicine, Thomas said pharmacist didn’t review with her what to expect with Misoprostol — which would have alerted them that the wrong medication had been dispensed. Reviewing the medication is protocol according to a report in Pharmacy Times, the trade news journal for pharmacists, which says, “Pharmacists will counsel patients on how to take the misoprostol and what to expect with this medication.”