Medical error
Medical error is one of the leading causes of death, which, according to researchers, it causes more than 250,000 deaths each year. Getting the wrong drug or amount can cause serious problems. These mistakes are caused by a lack of training, human error, and poor communication.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oregon-hospital-medication-error-kills-patient/ .Here’s a death case where a hospital in Oregon administered the wrong medicine to a 65-year-old patient. The medication error resulted from wrong drug administration as the patient was issued a paralyzing agent, which is used during surgeries instead of anti-seizure medication. The patient had visited the hospital with medication questions after recent brain surgery. The patient was later reported to have stopped breathing.
The error might have been due to human error; either the ones who were in charge of administering the drugs were not keen when issuing the medicine to the patient or did not carry any tests to know which medicine to administer. It might have been a manufacturing error of wrong or misleading packaging. The error might also be due to lack of training, were the ones involved had no experience on what medicine to administer.
This medication error could have been avoided if the doctors had been keen when administering the medicine. The hospital should also ensure that their personnel are qualified and well trained to avoid such medication errors. Manufacturing companies should also be keen on the packaging to avoid misleading doctors and avoid such medication errors.
In conclusion, medication saves life daily, but these medications can also hurt if given inappropriately. Doctors must be vigilant to avoid such medication errors.
References.
“Hospital Medication Error Kills Patient In Oregon.” Cbsnews.Com, 2020, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oregon-hospital-medication-error-kills-patient/. Accessed 13 Oct 2020.
Tariq, Rayhan A., Rishik Vashisht, and Yevgeniya Scherbak. “Medication errors.” StatPearls [Internet] (2020).