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'I asked for my contraceptive pills but was given rat poison'
A WOMAN was given a blood-thinning drug once used as rat poison by mistake instead of her regular prescription of the contraceptive pill.
Emma Hadenham was stunned when she realised Unicare Pharmacy in Rowner Road, Gosport, had given her a drug which could have led to an unwanted pregnancy and might also have had dangerous side effects.
The 22-year-old at first thought the pills, which should have been Marvelon, had simply been repackaged and she took the first night's tablet as usual.
However, nagged by doubts she checked again the following day and realised it was actually something called Marevan, a brand name for the blood-thinning drug warfarin.
But when she took the pills back to the chemist, she claims the staff at first said they did not know what they had given her.
Miss Hadenham, of Melville Road, Gosport, said: 'I'm quite angry – the blood-thinning pills weren't such a risk for me, but if it had been someone who had a heart problem, or some other health condition, it could have been fatal.
'For me it was more about missing out on the contraception. I don't want kids yet, I'm not ready for them. Everyone makes mistakes but in this industry they can't afford to be making ones like this.'
And when she asked staff at Unicare for a morning-after pill to cover the night before, they tried to charge her.
Miss Hadenham added: 'I couldn't believe it – they were asking me to pay for what was their mistake. And they were quite desperate to get the box back but I kept hold of it.'
Zaffer Mukhtar, the owner of Unicare Pharmacy, admitted a mistake had been made.
He said: 'I have apologised to Miss Hadenham. It was a mistake which should not have happened and I'm very sorry, but mistakes do happen.
'Luckily in this case no harm has been done.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
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