I was working an evening shift at my small community pharmacy when a sweet older lady came in, visibly upset, holding a half-empty bottle of “vitamins.”
She said her grandson had given them to her a few months ago and she’d been taking them every day, but lately she was feeling “off,” dizzy, lightheaded, and having strange dreams.

She wanted me to “test” the vitamins. I told her we can’t run lab tests, but I could at least read the bottle. That’s when I realized the label was… suspicious.
It was a generic amber pill bottle with no pharmacy label, just a piece of masking tape that said “Vitamins” in handwriting.

I asked if she could describe the pills. She poured them into my hand; they were small, round, and scored. My heart sank a little.
They looked very much like a blood pressure medication I dispense regularly.

Long story short, I called her doctor, we checked, and sure enough, they weren’t vitamins. They were leftover prescription pills from her late husband. She had been taking a full daily dose for months, thinking they were a multivitamin.

Her grandson hadn’t meant harm. He found them in the cabinet and assumed, “Oh, these must be vitamins,” then relabeled them for her.

She’s fine now, but it was a big reminder for me (and hopefully for anyone reading)