Pregnant Woman Given Abortion Pill, Not Antibiotic

Pharmacy accidentally hands her another woman's prescription
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 8, 2011 1:00 PM CST

An ABC News report on the mix-up.
(ABC News)

Mareena Silva, six weeks pregnant, went a Safeway pharmacy to pick up an antibiotic her doctor had prescribed—but instead, she walked out with an abortion drug. Silva took methotrexate, which is used for chemotherapy and for early-stage pregnancy termination, because she believed it was hers, but realized the mistake when she started feeling nauseous. "This is my first child, so it's really difficult to deal with," she tells ABC.

The drug was actually meant for someone with the same last name and a similar first name. Silva was advised to try and vomit it up, and also went to a medical center for treatment, but she still runs the risk of birth defects or, worse, losing her baby. "For all this to happen now is really overwhelming, to know that I have to come home and wait," she says. Click here for more.
(More pregnancy stories.)

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