A CHEMIST'S slip up left a North-East man fighting for his life after he was given the wrong prescription.

Michael Walker was rushed to hospital after a pharmacist at a Boots store in Newcastle gave him pills which nearly induced a diabetic coma.

Instead of being given the anti-depressants prescribed, he was given anti-diabetic drugs in a mix-up by the store in Monument Mall, Newcastle.

After taking just one of the pills, Mr Walker, 41, began shaking and getting blurred vision.

He phoned NHS Direct which advised him to call Boots immediately. Counter staff at the store told him to hang up and call an ambulance in case he slipped into a coma.

When paramedics arrived at his house in Cruddas Park, Newcastle, they said he could have died if he had waited any longer.

Boots has apologised and promised to launch a full investigation.

Mr Walker said: "I was terrified. I was shaking and dizzy and my vision started going."

Mr Walker, who has learning disabilities and cannot read, had been taking the 100mg Chlorpromazine tablets for just over a year.

The drugs he was given by Boots, 100mg Chloropropamide pills, are for diabetics.

They lower blood sugar by stimulating the production and secretion of insulin from the pancreas.

Mr Walker was taken to Newcastle General Hospital where doctors fought to raise his blood sugar levels.

A spokeswoman for Boots said: "We would like to apologise to the patient. We strive to provide the highest standards of dispensing medicine and we will be undertaking an investigation with immediate effect."