Collins Slip

Collins Slip is a blanket term used in pharmacies to describe a slip and/or note placed in prescription bags to ensure important notes and instructions are followed. Generally, Collins Slips are used to denote mixing of reconstitutables, verification of patient information, medications located separate from the bag, and so on.

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The name "Collins Slip" comes from a filling incident that took place at a small, independently owned pharmacy in a suburb of Akron, Ohio in 1983. The pharmacist on duty (also the owner of the store), mistakenly dispensed reconstitutable penicillin to a patient's father without first adding water. When the father returned home, he realized the error, and instead of taking the medication back to the pharmacy, reconstituted the drug himself. Unfortunately, he diluted the medicine to such a degree that the child's infection was not treated, and in fact spread, leading the child's eventual death. The boy, Jefferson Collins, was six at the time.

Shortly thereafter, the pharmacist's technician struck upon the idea of sliding pieces of paper or cardboard into the prescription bags. On each end of the slip, and on both sides, were generic notes/instructions that would help avoid similar incidents. The technician named it the "Collins Slip" after the boy who died.