Posts tagged error

• Dilantin overdose kills patient

  Barry Doyle | January 30, 2007 10:18 PM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  A Florida woman died recently of a massive overdose of dilantin while she was hospitalized. The attending physician ordered 800 milligrams of the drug, but a nurse gave her 8000 milligrams instead. Two to five grams is considered a fatal dosage.Heart failure was a cause of the patient's death. According to the Institute of Medicine, this was one of the estimated 400,000 patient deaths...

• Half of All Deaths in Hospital Could Have Been Handled Differently

  Jamie G. Goldstein | November 08, 2010 11:23 PM | 0 CommentsChicago, IL Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  A Canadian study from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority examined the records of hospital patients in the city in an attempt to see how hospital acquired infections could be reduced and patient...

• Medication error kills patient

  Barry Doyle | May 21, 2007 8:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  A Montana nurse admitted to a coroner's inquest that she adminstered a wrong medication to a patient who died shortly after receiving the drug. The patient came to trhe emergency room of the hospital with difficulty breathing. The doctor ordered lasix, a diuretic, to help draw out fluid that may have been contributing the respiratory problems.Instead of taking the lasix from the pharmacy, she...

• Hospital sued for medication error

  Barry Doyle | June 13, 2007 2:30 PM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  A Missouri hospital has been sued by the parents of one of its patients after the 8-year old girl received the wrong medication. The girl had been prescribed israpidine but was given risperdal instead.The girl suffered brain damage and kidney damage and will eventually require a kidney transplant."Sound-alike" medications cause the potential for medication errors. This arises from the custom...

• Drug mixing error kills three

  Barry Doyle | May 01, 2007 9:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  An employee in a drug compounding pharmacy who was mixing a medication made an error which resulted in a drug being sent to a clinic in a form which was 10 times more potent than intended. The medication was called colchicine, which is normally used to treat gout. It was being used in the clinic to treat back pain, which is off-lbael use of the drug. The way that the medication works is that...

• Medication error kills cancer patient

  Barry Doyle | December 30, 2006 11:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  A cancer patient died after being given 10 times the dose of chemotherapy medication ordered by his doctor. The patient was to receive 50 mg of the medication ordered by his doctor, but was instead given a 500 mg dose. Four days later, the patient died. There were a number of allegations that the hospital staff tried to cover up the error.Fortunately, the hospital disclosed the error to the...

• Should Increased Rates of Surgical Error Mean Less Accountability for Doctors?

  Jamie G. Goldstein | November 04, 2010 3:49 PM | 0 CommentsChicago, IL Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  For every invasive surgical procedure, doctors are meant to abide by certain protocols. Research indicates, however, that surgical rates of error remain consistent despite numerous calls for...

• Chicago Doctors Raise Awareness About Medical Errors

  Jamie G. Goldstein | October 20, 2010 10:30 AM | 0 CommentsChicago, IL Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  Last week I posted about how the medical community needs to acknowledge and take responsibility for the alarming rates of medical errors that still occur every day in the interest of openness and...

• Holding Doctors Accountable: No More Turning a Blind-Eye to Preventable Medical Mistakes

  Jamie G. Goldstein | October 12, 2010 3:21 AM | 0 CommentsChicago, IL Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  Despite constant advances in medical technology, anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 people die every year from medical error, and many experts believe the actual number could be even higher. Making...

• Mother Sues After Four-Month Old Died From Cough Medicine

  Jenny Albano | November 15, 2007 4:49 PM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  Dimitria Alvarez's four-month old son died from taking over-the-counter cough and cold medicines on Oct. 8, 2001, and she has since sued the two sued two distributors of the drugs, claiming they should have known the dangers of the main ingredient and cautioned consumers.The lawsuit filed Wednesday is one of the first since Federal Drug Administration hearings last month where health experts...