Man says CVS wrongly gave him chemo drug

CHARLESTON – A Cabell County man is suing over claims a pharmacy gave him the wrong prescription.

Joshua D. Hartsock filed a lawsuit Sept. 5 in Kanawha Circuit Court against West Virginia CVS Pharmacy, John Doe pharmacists, pharmacy supervisors, and pharmacy technicians, citing negligence.

According to the complaint, Hartsock went to the CVS Pharmacy on U.S. 60 in Huntington on July 7 to have his prescription for Lamictal refilled, but he was informed they were out and to come back the following day.

Hartsock says when he returned, they were again out of the drug but a pharmacist gave him four bottles of a drug he claimed was a "generic" version of Lamictal and to take it in the same manner he would his prescription.

The complaint states that on July 26, the pharmacy contacted Hartsock to inform him the medication he'd been taking was the incorrect prescription and asked him to return it.

Hartstock says the CVS employee would not inform him of the medical use of the medication he'd been mistakenly taking, so he contacted a Rite Aid store, which said they could not give medical advice, but to get to an emergency room immediately.

According to the complaint, upon arrival at the hospital, Hartstock learned he'd been ingesting the prescription drug Lomustine, a toxic chemotherapy drug used for the treatment of brain tumors and Hodgkin's disease. The defendants are accused of negligence.

Hartsock seeks punitive damages and court costs.

He is represented by attorneys Robert B. Warner, Lynnette Simon Marshall and Andrew David Byrd of Warner Law Offices in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Charles E. King.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 14-C-1611.