A 92-year-old Texas man became severely ill and died after his longtime pharmacy mistakenly gave him another patient’s prescription medication, according to a wrongful death lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
Joseph Hamilton Broussard took the pills as directed for 66 days, which ultimately proved fatal, alleges a complaint filed Wednesday evening by his daughter.
An expert opinion submitted to the court by a physician specializing in emergency medicine and toxicology contends Broussard’s death, following an 11-month decline, was a direct result of having been dispensed the wrong drug, calling out Houston’s Mercury Drive Pharmacy for “negligence and breaches in the standard of care.”
“There are several steps that the standard of care requests to ensure a patient does not receive a medication intended for another patient,” the opinion reads. “However, one of the most fundamental checks is to ensure before a medication is given or delivered to a patient that the name on the pill bottle matches the name of the patient it is being given to.”
Mercury Drive is a member of Health Mart, a nationwide network of independent pharmacies, which is owned by McKesson, the publicly traded pharmaceutical distributor. A McKesson spokesperson did not respond Thursday to a request for comment. An employee who answered the phone at Mercury Drive said he would not be able to pass along a message to owner James Muldrow. A subsequent email to Muldrow’s work account went unanswered.
Broussard, who had multiple health issues, was a regular customer of Mercury Drive and got his prescription refills by mail, according to his daughter’s complaint, which is now pending in Harris County District Court. On August 8, 2024, a bottle containing 90 45-milligram tablets of pioglitazone, a diabetes drug sold under the brand name Actos, arrived at Broussard’s Houston home, it says. He followed the instructions precisely, taking one pill a day, the complaint continues.
But Broussard – who had a pacemaker and was living with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure and had part of his kidney removed during a battle against cancer – hadn’t been prescribed pioglitazone, the complaint states. Instead, it goes on, the meds were meant for someone else.
That October, Broussard showed up at an area hospital complaining of shortness of breath and swollen ankles, the complaint states. Doctors found Broussard was retaining water due to a worsening of his congestive heart failure, started him on IV diuretics, and kept him under medical observation for two days.
Several months later, following a bout of pneumonia, Broussard was hospitalized with “congestive heart failure exacerbation,” this time for an entire week, according to the complaint.
It says Broussard’s health took a turn for the worse from there, and on June 7, 2025, he died.
Of the 90 pioglitazone pills in the bottle Broussard had been improperly sent, 24 remained, according to the expert opinion filed alongside his daughter’s complaint.
“Had Mr. Broussard not received this medication, it is more likely than not he would not have had an exacerbation of congestive heart failure or required hospitalization that he did,” Jonathan David de Olano, M.D. wrote.
It is “foreseeable to all healthcare providers, including a pharmacy and its employees and staff, that failure to meet the standard of care described above can result in serious injuries or even death,” the document by de Olano states. “That is why it is my opinion that the negligence and breaches in the standard of care identified by this report were a proximate cause of Mr. Broussard’s resulting injuries.”
Pioglitazone promotes fluid retention, and can “trigger or worsen heart failure, particularly in individuals with pre-existing congestive heart failure, such as Mr. Broussard,” according to de Olano. “... Even in those with less severe cardiac dysfunction, careful monitoring is essential because volume overload may develop gradually and produce significant clinical consequences.”
With that in mind, de Olana said he believes it is “more likely than not, based on a reasonable degree of medical probability,” that Broussard’s taking pioglitazone resulted in his initial hospitalization and helped bring about his eventual demise.
“Had Mercury Drive Pharmacy… their employees and/or staff complied with the standard of care, it is more likely than not that they would have identified that he was about to receive the wrong medication and would not have provided it to him,” de Olana wrote.
In 2019, a transcription error by a pharmacy technician led to the death of a patient, who was reportedly prescribed methotrexate, a cancer drug, instead of metolazone, a diuretic. Last year, a 58-year-old auto mechanic died in the hospital after an in-house pharmacist accidentally prescribed him a lethal dose of pain killers. In certain instances, healthcare professionals have been charged with manslaughter over medication errors.
Mercury Drive Pharmacy acted with “conscious indifference to Broussard’s rights, safety, health and welfare,” according to Broussard’s daughter’s complaint. She is now seeking general, special, and exemplary damages for the “conscious physical pain and emotional pain, torment, and suffering” she says her father experienced, as well as for medical expenses and hospital care. funeral and burial expenses, along with punitive damages for malice and gross negligence, “in an amount sufficient to punish and deter such conduct in the future.”
Attorneys John Brothers and Nicolas Verchere, who are representing Broussard’s daughter, did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump sues JPMorgan and its CEO for $5 billion for alleged ‘political’ debanking
Colorado residents sue outdoor concert venue for excessive noise
Church sues town for ‘religious discrimination’ after plans for bell tower refused
Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder sued by beauty tech startup over theft allegations
Nato clash grows as Trump says European soldiers avoided Afghan front lines – latest
Blake Lively and Taylor Swift's text messages exposed in lawsuit against Justin Baldoni
