Personal Injury Law

Jury Awards Family Following Medication Error Death

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

Medical malpractice takes on many forms in hospitals and clinics across the country. On this blog we have documented many types of hospital errors, from diagnostic mistakes and lack of informed consent to surgical errors and misread x-rays. Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti have decades of experience with all of these matters. Our lawyers have fought for victims of all types of medical mistakes and their families.

Of all the forms of medical malpractice, one of the most common across the country (and most deadly) is medication errors. Almost everyone understands that the various drugs given to a patient can have (and are intended to have) drastic consequences on the patient?s body, both good and bad. The power of many of these medications makes it absolutely vital that all staff members who handle the pharmaceutical products use their most extreme care, double and triple checking the details so that no problems arise.

Unfortunately, mistakes still do occur with shocking frequency?and the results are deadly.

The Times Union reported yesterday on a verdict in a medical malpractice trial following one of those fatal medication errors. A few years ago a 66 year old patient was admitted to Glen Falls Hospital for observation; he was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Around midnight a nurse entered his room and gave him a dose of OxyCotin, a painkiller known to depress breathing. The patient was someone who already suffered from breathing problems, and so the medication had deadly affects on his body. He died 12 hours later.

Hospital staff admitted later that the victim was not supposed to be given the painkiller. Instead it was intended for his roommate. Some simple administrative error was responsible for the mix-up which ultimately killed the man, taking him away from his family far too early.

If you or someone you know may have been affected by a medication problem, please contact a medical malpractice lawyer today.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on November 04, 2010 (boomark / email).