Published June 17, 2025
We received two reports of pharmacies delivering medicines to the wrong address. In the first report, the medicine was supposed to be delivered on a Monday. When the person did not receive the medicine, they contacted the pharmacy. It was discovered that the package containing the medicine had been delivered to an address a couple of blocks away from the correct location. The shipping address had been entered incorrectly with one number being wrong. The pharmacy was able to retrieve the unopened package and deliver it to the correct person.
In the second report, a person took another person’s medicine for more than a month after it was delivered to the wrong address. The two people, who are next-door neighbors in an apartment complex, both receive pharmacy deliveries. The medicines that were incorrectly received included a blood thinner, a cholesterol-lowering medicine, a thyroid medicine, and a medicine used to treat diabetes. They did not know there was a mistake until the person called to refill one of the medicines and told the pharmacy that it was prescribed by a doctor whose name matched that of the neighbor. He had read the patient’s name on the label and thought it was the doctor’s name. Thankfully, the man felt fine, but a serious bleeding event with the blood thinner could have happened, as well as adverse effects from the other medicines.
Here's what you can do: It is important to verify your address with the pharmacy. If you move, the old address needs to be deleted from the pharmacy system, and your preferred shipping address should be updated to prevent shipping medicines to the old address. Open medicine packages as soon as possible. Check what is inside the package and confirm that your information is on the medicine labels, including your full name and date of birth. Make sure the medicine is what you expect. If something does not seem right, contact the pharmacy with any questions or concerns BEFORE taking any medicine.
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