SINGAPORE - An elderly woman unwittingly "glued her eyelids shut" after she applied the medication that had been dispensed to her by a pharmacy at a local hospital.
Although the doctor had prescribed her Solcoseryl 20% Eye Gel, the hospital pharmacy had given her Solcoseryl Dental Adhesive Paste instead.
According to online pharmacy websites, both Solcoseryl Dental Adhesive Paste and Solcoseryl Eye Gel contain proteins derived from calf blood that aid in wound healing.
Her son, Austin, wrote in to STOMP with pictures of the wrong product:
"As shown in the pictures attached, my mother was prescribed Solcoseryl 20% Eye Gel but whoever was behind the counter gave her Solcoseryl DEN
"My mother does not understand English, and her eyesight is too poor to make out the words even if she did.
"I came home to find her complaining that it was difficult to open her eyelids and discovered to my horror that she had applied this paste to her eyes."
In a phone conversation with STOMP, Austin verified that his mother's eyelids were glued shut because she had applied the dental adhesive paste.
He added:
"She had to have her eyes rinsed repeatedly. As it is, there is no telling if there is going to be any permanent damage from this mistake and she may very well had gone blind if nobody was home tonight.
"Please urge your readers to check and double-check anything that they are given by hospital pharmacies, especially if they have elderly parents."
According to Austin, his mother was brought to the hospital's A&E department where she was given an eye irrigation treatment.
The family is still waiting for a response from the unnamed hospital on the matter.
