It’s every patient’s worst nightmare – receiving the wrong dose of medication and suffering an adverse event. That’s exactly what happened at an Oakland medical facility when nurses staged a lockout and were replaced with nurses from other facilities. A replacement nurse gave a cancer patient a “non-prescribed dosage” of medication, which led to the patient’s death. The locked out union nurses allege that the error could have been prevented if they were allowed to return to work earlier. The union nurses were only on strike for one day, but the facility had to guarantee the contract replacement nurses five days of work.
Dr. Melissa Conrad Stoppler says that 1.3 million people are injured as the result of medication errors each year in the United States. A medication error refers to any preventable event that may cause a patient harm or any inappropriate medication use when the medication is under the control of healthcare professionals or patients.
One of the most common medication errors is administering the incorrect dosage of a drug. Other errors include giving the wrong drug and incorrectly administering a drug. Elderly people are especially vulnerable to these errors because many of them take several prescription medications.
You can help prevent medication errors by asking questions whenever someone gives you a drug during a hospital stay. Ask what the drug is, what the drug is used for and what the correct dosage is for that particular drug. If you do not understand any of this information, ask for clarification. If you expect to have major surgery and know you may not be able to stay alert, ask a friend or family member to ask these questions for you.
Even when patients take control of their care and question the administration of medications, drug errors can still occur. If your loved one has died because of incorrectly administered drugs, contact the Northern California wrongful death attorneys at Van Der Walde & Associates, we have extensive experience handling wrongful death cases successfully. To discuss your case with us at no charge, call (877) 862-6288 to schedule a consultation.
