A woman who was accidentally given abortion pills by a pharmacy when she was undergoing IVF said her plans to have a big family were shattered
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
- Tamika Thomas was mistakenly given the abortion pill misoprostol by CVS Pharmacy employees.
- Thomas was undergoing IVF treatment and had her pregnancy abruptly ended after taking the pill.
- "It was just a human error and I'm so sorry," one pharmacist said at a hearing following the incident.
A Las Vegas woman who was undergoing IVF treatment had her pregnancy abruptly ended after she was accidentally given abortion pills by CVS Pharmacy employees, local TV station 8 News Now reported.
Tamika Thomas, who has four children, had trouble getting pregnant after she and her husband decided they wanted one more child in 2019, per the report.
Thomas had had her fallopian tubes removed after experiencing two ectopic pregnancies, which "is when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes," according to the UK's National Health Service, which adds that it can be a health risk for the mother and that "it's not possible to save the pregnancy."
But Thomas dreamed of having a big family, so she decided to undergo IVF and was prescribed medication that would help kickstart her pregnancy.
But a mix-up at the CVS counter meant she received the abortion pill misoprostol instead.
She said she started experiencing cramps when she took the pills at home and immediately knew something was wrong.
She said she had anticipated cramping, but hers became far worse than she had expected.
"My cramping went beyond that," she said. "It was extreme. It was painful," she told 8 News Now.
Thomas later brought a complaint to the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy. It found that a technician had entered a generic prescription name for misoprostol and the pharmacists had missed the mistake.
The two pharmacists were fined and put on probation for a year, while the pharmacy itself was given a maximum fine of $10,000 when the board met in September, 8 News Now reported.
"It's a human error," one pharmacist said at a hearing, The Messenger reported. "It was just a human error and I'm so sorry."
But Thomas said that while she understood that "people make mistakes ... that mistake took something from me."
"There's not enough that I can say. There's not enough therapy. There's not enough medication that'll take the thoughts away. That will take the pain away," she added, per the report.
Earlier this year, CVS and Walgreens said they planned to offer the abortion pill mifepristone over the counter in states where it's legal.
Mifepristone can be used until around week 10 of pregnancy and is taken in combination with misoprostol.
The US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, which had given people the legal right to abortion in the US in 1973. Now the control of abortion policies have been returned to individual states.
CVS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, which was made outside of regular working hours.