South Elgin Man Sues Meijer Over Wrong Form Of Medication

ELGIN, IL — A 41-year-old South Elgin man is suing Meijer and a pharmacist at the retail giant's Elgin location after he claims his second heart-related emergency only happened because the pharmacist gave him the wrong form of medication for his first heart attack, according to the Daily Herald. According to the lawsuit, Jim Danz was driving for work near DeKalb on Feb. 16, 2017 when he experienced worsening symptoms, and ended up in the emergency room at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital where doctors determined he was suffering a "myocardial infarction," the Daily Herald reported.

The husband and father of five was released a couple days later with a prescription for the slow-releasing beta blocker metoprolol succinate, prescribed to him at 25 milligrams once a day, according to the lawsuit. But when Danz went to an Elgin Meijer to get the prescription filled, he was instead given a bottle of 25-milligram tablets of the fast-acting beta blocker metoprolol tartrate, the Daily Herald reported, according to the lawsuit. Metoprolol tartrate is usually prescribed in 50 milligram doses to be taken twice a day, Danz's attorney Patrick Walsh told the Daily Herald.

Eight days later, Danz was taken by paramedics to Presence St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin due to what he thought was a second heart attack, and was diagnosed with sinus tachycardia after his pulse rate rose to 180 beats per minutes, the lawsuit states, according to the Daily Herald. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Kane County, reports Danz is suing Meijer and the pharmacist for $700,000 to cover his medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost time at work, the Daily Herald said.

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