$16 Million Awarded For Girl Given Wrong Drug

Jurors awarded $16 million to compensate a girl who was left brain damaged after a pharmacist dispensed the wrong drug.

Instead of the Ritalin prescribed to treat Gabrielle Hundley’s attention deficit disorder, Rite Aid pharmacist Howard Jones gave her Glynase, a drug diabetics use to reduce blood sugar levels.

Gabrielle, then 7, took the drug for the first time Feb. 21, 1995, and was hospitalized the same day. Months passed before she spoke again and the resulting brain damage left her mildly mentally retarded, her mother said.

The defense has 30 days to appeal the verdict, which specified that the award come from Rite Aid, the nation’s largest drug store chain, not from the pharmacist.