According to a study posted at the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, an important factor in some hospital medication errors involves using inaccurate weights. The study was based on approximately 480 event reports submitted to the Authority that involved medication mistakes in Pennsylvania hospitals as a result of breakdowns during the process of obtaining, documenting, and/or communicating patient weights. Apparently, the errors occurred because the doses of the particular medicines involved are calculated based on body weight. When the person mixing or compounding the medicine uses the wrong body weight, the patient will receive the wrong dose of medicine. The study concluded such errors in hospitals can be reduced by making sure all hospital wings have scales, the scales are properly calibrated, all patients are weighed, and all patients are weighed only in kilograms.

In retrospect the assocaiation between inaccurate weights and giving the wrong dose of medicine seems obvious. Sometimes however, it takes data analysis like this to bring what should be obvious to the surface. Of course, without the voluntary reporting of these medication errors, the analyisis would have never taken place. What is really shocking is that there no mandatory reporting requirement for medication errors in the United States.

Scott Distasio
Hospital Medication Error Lawyer

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Posted by Scott Distasio at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a previous post about a pharmacist from England that was charged criminally for dispensing the wrong medication, I boldly stated:

"In the United States it is highly unlikely that this type of pharmacy mistake would
lead to such an extreme reaction. Simply put, such negligent conduct does not
warrant criminal charges."

Technically, I was not wrong because I stated it was "highly unlikely". However, such criminal prosecutions do in fact occur in the United States. For example, Eric Cropp, a Hospital Pharmacist, was recently charged criminally for his role in the overdose death of 2 year-old Emily Jerry. According to Cleavland.com, Eric Cropp is about to plead no contest to charges of involuntary manslaughter.

The pharmacy malpractice occurred when a pharmacy technician in the hospital pharmacy improperly mixed a solution with 23% saline instead of 1% saline. According to Cleavland.com, the pharmacy tech actually pointed out to Eric Cropp, the supervising pharmacist, that she thought there was something wrong with the mixture. Instead of investigating, Cropp dismissed her concerns and told her to have the medicine delivered anyway.

In most states, involuntary manslaughter occurs when someone that did not intend to cause death, acted so recklessly in causing someone else's death that they should have known it would cause death. It appears that the reckless conduct in this case that lead to criminal charges stem from three basic facts. The first fact is that the overdose of saline was so high that even a marginally competent pharmacist would know that such a high dose, 23 times higher than what was ordered, would kill a child. The second fact is that Cropp was specifically warned that something was potentially wrong with the medicine and he failed to investigate. The third fact is that the little girl died from the prescription error.

Scott Distasio
Florida Pharmacy Malpractice Lawyer

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888-595-0022

Posted by Scott Distasio at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to www.drugtopics.modernmedicine.com employees of Christus Spohn Health System, a Corpus Chirsty, Texas hospital gave overdoses of Heparin to at least 17 babies on July 3, 2008. Heparin is blood thinner medication that is harmless in small doses.

According to www.usatoday.com, two of the infants, a twin brother and sister, died this week. The hospital has stated they have found no link between the medicine overdose and the deaths. Futhermore, the hospital has stated the other infants do not appear to have suffered any adverse effects.

Unfortunately hospital medication errors appear to be out of control. A study referenced in an earlier blog article suggests 11.1 per 100 patients experience some type of medication error while in the hospital.

Scott Distasio
Tampa Bay Personal Injury Lawyer

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OFFICES: TAMPA
888-595-0022

Florida Hospital Medicine Mistake Lawyer

Posted by Scott Distasio at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Canadian study, "Correlates of Medication Error in Hospitals", published May 14, 2008 in Health Reports concluded that nurses that usually work overtime and nurses that perceive staffing and resources were inadequate were more likely to report that a patient had received the wrong drug or wrong dosage. The nurses that participated in the study also reported that hospital medication mistakes were more likely to occur when poor working relations with physicians, lack of support from co-workers, and low job security existed. The study analyzed interviews of 18,676 nurses in Canadian hospitals performed by the Canadian 2005 National Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses.

Other interesting findings include the fact that 19% of the nurses interviewed acknowledged that medication errors had occured "occasionally" or "frequently" to patients in their care the year before the survey. The complete study can be found at the following link:
http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/82-003-XIE/2008002/article/10565/findings-en.htm

Scott Distasio
Florida Wrong Drug Attorney

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OFFICES: TAMPA
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Tampa personal injury lawyer

Posted by Scott Distasio at 2:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new study published in the April 2008 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics found that 7.3 percent of hospitalized children participating in the study were victims of medication errors. Some of the children were actually victims of multiple medication mistakes. Therefore, the actual error rate was 11.1 per 100 patients. According to an article on the subject by Lindsey Taylor published in www.mcall.com on April 14, 2008, that translates into as much as 540,000 children annually. The alarmingly high numbers seem to prove that hospital medication mistakes occur much more frequently than can be accounted for by the traditional documenting methods.

Traditionally, estimates regarding how many hospital medication errors have been based on self policing methods including self reporting and peer review. Researchers and government data collectors have always suggested that the self policing methods vastly underestimate the scope of the problem. This new study backs up the researchers claims. In fact the study indicates that only 3.7 percent of the errors found in the study were identified using traditional voluntary reporting methods.

The new study found the additional medication mistakes by focusing on triggers or "red flags" while reviewing patient charts. The triggers included observing in the chart documentation of known medication side effects, unusual lab results, and the giving of antidotes for drug overdoses. In other words, the focus was on actively looking for medication errors instead of relying on wrongdoers to report their mistakes.

To anyone that studies human nature, the results are really not surprising. There will always be a percentage of the population that will try to cover up their mistakes. It is naive to think that the percentage of such people is less in the medical community than in the general population. Simply put, morality does not increase with education and intelligence.
Personal injury lawyers are often criticized by tort reformers in the medical community for holding them accountable for their mistakes. The claim is usually that mistakes are rare and that personal injury attorneys are simply exploiting unfortunate outcomes. The solution for these folks is to eliminate the tort system in favor of self reporting, self policing, and self correcting of mistakes. It will be interesting to see if the results of this study will lead even one tort reformer in the medical community to reflect on whether such a system will do more harm by failing to catch those that put their own self interest in not being held accountable for their mistakes ahead of what is in the best interest of their patients.

Scott Distasio
Florida Hospital Medication Mistake Lawyer

DISTASIO LAW FIRM
HELPING INJURED PEOPLE
OFFICES: TAMPA
1-888-595-0022

Tampa Personal Injury Attorney

Posted by Scott Distasio at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As we go through our work day, our thoughts are often on things other than our work. For most of us, our drifting mind means lack of productivity. A mistake caused by such lack of concentration simply means extra work fixing a problem. For health care professionals involved in the medication delivery system, the consequences are often much more serious.

According to statistics found at the United States Food And Drug Administration Website, www.fda.gov, between 770,000 and 1.3 million patients are injured each year by medication errors; as many as 7000 people die each year due to medication errors; and nearly 1 of every 5 doses of medication given in U.S. hospitals involve medication errors. Given the size of the problem, you would expect much more media attention would be focused on the issue. However, if it were not for the recent events surrounding the overdose of Dennis Quaid's twins with Heparin, most of us would never even suspect there is a problem. The reality is the Quiad twins were lucky. They appear to have escaped the ordeal with little or no long term repercussions. Unfortunately, many other children are not so lucky. For example, I recently represented an infant that was the victim of a medication error in a hospital. He is now in a permanent vegetative state similar to Terry Schiavo. The financial recovery we achieved on his behalf will pay for his care for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, it will not change the outcome.

While it is too late for my client, it is not too late for others. Ultimately, only health care providers themselves can solve the problem. However, there are many things we can do to help. Encouraging public awareness of the problem with medication errors is the first step. Educating yourself regarding what to look for and what questions to ask concerning your own medication is the next step. The final step of holding those accountable for their mistakes is one that hopefully none of us will ever have to take.

Scott Distasio
Florida Medicine Mistake Lawyer

DISTASIO LAW FIRM
HELPING INJURED PEOPLE
OFFICES: TAMPA
1-888-595-0022

Posted by Scott Distasio at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)