CA orders Mercury Drug to pay couple P100,000 for wrong medicine

The Court of Appeals has ordered drugstore chain Mercury Drug Corp. to indemnify a family P100,000 in moral damages for giving them wrong medicine more than a decade ago. Instead of anti-allergy medicine Benadryl, the Mercury Drug branch in Sucat cor. Canyanay Avenue in Parañaque City gave the Garcia couple anti-convulsion drug Dilantin in 1999, according to a 13-page decision by the CA’s 17th Division. Though the appellate court upheld a Parañaque City Regional trial Court branch 260’s earlier ruling that found the drugstore liable for the mistake, it reduced to P100,000 the P300,000 damage fee earlier set by the local court. “Obviously, the award of moral damages in the amount of P300,000 is not proportionate to the suffering sustained by private respondents. We believe that the amount of P100,000 would more than assuage whatever emotional inconvenience that private respondents might have endured as a result of the negligence of appellant and that of its employee," the CA said. Citing Article 2180 of the New Civil Procedure, the CA said employers are liable for damages caused by their employees. It added that Mercury Drug did not exercise due diligence in selecting and supervising its employees. "The responsibility treated of in this ruling shall cease when herein appellant [Mercury Drug] proves that it observed all the diligence of a good father of a family to prevent damage. However, in the instance before us, appellant miserably failed to demonstrate that it conducted the necessary precautions in preventing something of this nature from happening," it said. Alma Garcia said she purchased six Benadryl capsules from the concerned branch for her daughter Amanda Hazel, who later complained of abdominal discomfort, irregular bowel movement, and inability to sleep. Amanda was later diagnosed as suffering from toxicity due to Dilantin intake, and was forced to quit school. Associate Justice Stephen Cruz penned the decision, which was concurred in by Associate Justices Isaias Dicdican and Danton Bueser. - SD/KBK, GMANews.TV