Boy recovering after a 'medication error' at Mary Bridge hospital

by John R Christensen

A six year old Federal Way boy, after vomiting and suffering stomach pains on November 6, was taken to Mary Bridge Where a routine appendix surgery was performed.

However, he later developed internal bleeding and was admitted to the ICU, where he stayed for four days.  The bleeding was the result of an overdose of medication.  The hospital admitted it made a mistake and is looking closely into the incident and assessing their medication procedures to prevent another such error.

This isn’t the first error involving children at Puget Sound area hospitals this year.

 On September 17, a newborn died in an ambulance after being administered medication without a doctor’s order.

 Two days later an 8 month old died at Seattle Children’s after being given an overdose of calcium chloride. 

And as recently as November 10, an 8-month-old girl died hours after being released from Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital.  An investigation is underway.

In the case of the newborn, the state Department of Health, upon investigation, determined the hospital had “effective, adequate systems” in place to prevent patient harm.

 But sometimes those systems aren’t “effective” and “adequate”.  What if medical negligence is involved?  Then what?   Medical negligence occurs when a medical provider makes a mistake, causing serious injury or death.

Unfortunately, MBC has cases like this come in all the time, which makes sense considering every year approximately 200,000 American patients die preventable deaths at the hands of medical providers.

Here are some guidelines to follow that could help prevent you from becoming a victim of medical negligence. 

• If possible, bring someone to the hospital with you to be your witness and advocate.
• Ask your doctor and pharmacist questions about the medications you are receiving. Why is he or she selecting this medication?  What can be expected from this medication?  Are there any side effects?
• Tell your doctor and pharmacist about any other medications you are taking to avoid any possible adverse reactions.
• Inform them of any allergies or intolerances you have to medications.
• Get the name of the medication the prescribing doctor is writing down and if possible have him type it out or make sure he or she writes the name and dosage legibly.
• Tell the pharmacist why you are taking the medication.  Many medications have very similar sounding names, but treat very different conditions.
• Upon arriving at home, look the medication up online to ensure you received the proper drug and dosage.

The more questions you ask the better.  Take an active role your own health care process.  Doctors and pharmacists are human and make mistakes like the rest of us. If you stay vigilant and are a smart consumer you can help cut down on the medical errors and hopefully avoid a serious or deadly mistake.

Sources:  

News Tribune Article 1 

News Tribune Article 2

Dead by Mistake