Patient Safety & Quality AssuranceQuestion 71 of 100
While entering a prescription for cephalexin, a technician sees a system alert that the patient has a documented penicillin allergy. What is the appropriate action?
a.Leave the alert unresolved and notify the pharmacist so it can be clinically evaluated
b.Override the alert, since cephalexin is not a penicillin
c.Remove the allergy from the profile if the patient says the reaction was mild
d.Cancel the prescription and tell the patient to contact the prescriber
Explanation
Deciding whether a documented allergy contraindicates a related antibiotic is a clinical judgment reserved for the pharmacist, so the technician's job is to preserve the alert and escalate it. Overriding it, editing the allergy history based on a casual patient comment, or cancelling the prescription outright all substitute the technician's judgment for the pharmacist's and can delay needed therapy.
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