Doctor Medication Error
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Medication Error Prevention
Share Tweet Linkedin Pin it More sharing options Linkedin Pin it Email Print When Jacquelyn Ley types of medication error shattered her elbow on the soccer field, her parents set out to find her the best care in Minneapolis. "We drove past five other medication error reporting hospitals to get to the one we wanted," says Carol Ley, M.D., an occupational health physician. Her husband, an orthopedic surgeon, made sure Jacquelyn got the right surgeon. After a successful three-hour surgery to repair the broken bones, Jacquelyn, http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/03/the-shocking-truth-about-medication-errors/ who was 9 at the time, received the pain medicine morphine through a pump and was hooked up to a heart monitor, breathing monitor, and blood oxygen monitor. Her recovery was going so well that doctors decided to turn off the morphine pump and to forgo regular checks of her vital signs.Carol Ley slept in her daughter's hospital room that night. When she woke up in the middle of the night and checked on her, Jacquelyn was barely breathing. "I http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm143553.htm called her name, but she wouldn't respond," she says. "I shook her and called for help." The morphine pump hadn't been shut down, but had accidentally been turned up high. The narcotic flooded Jacquelyn's body. She survived the overdose, but it was a close call. "If three more hours had gone by, I don't think Jacquelyn would have survived," Ley says. "Fortunately, I woke up."Ley was pleased with the way the hospital handled the error. "They came right out and said the morphine pump was incorrectly programmed, they told me the steps they were going to take to make sure Jacquelyn was OK, and they also told me what they were going to do to make sure this kind of mistake won't happen again. And that's very important to me." The hospital began using pumps that are easier to use and revamped nurses' training. Ley believes there were many contributors to the error, including the fact that it was Labor Day weekend and there were staff shortages. "It goes to show that this can happen to anyone, anywhere," says Ley, who now chairs the board of the National Patient Safety Foundation.Multiple FactorsSince 1992, the Food and Drug Administration has received nearly 30,000 reports of medication errors. These are voluntary reports, so the number of medication errors that actually occur is thought to be much higher. There is no "typical" medication error, and health professionals, patients, an
Issue Search Now Search Now Find a Lawyer Understand your issue Ask a lawyer Log In By Practice Area Bankruptcy Child Custody Criminal Law Divorce http://medical-malpractice.lawyers.com/can-i-sue-over-a-prescribed-medication.html Family Law Labor & Employment Law Medical Malpractice Personal Injury Real Estate Taxation Wills & Probate More + By Life Events Getting a Divorce Write a Will Bankruptcy, Credit and Debt Home Disaster Recovery Losing a Job Landlord Tenant Automobile Accident Privacy Violated Care for an Aging Relative Identity Theft Hot Topics on Lawyers.com More + By Location California Florida Georgia Illinois Michigan New jersey medication error New york Ohio Pennsylvania Texas Washington More + Ask a Lawyer Ask a Question Latest Answers from Lawyers Family Law Answers Criminal Law Answers Business Law Answers Bankruptcy Law Answers Immigration Law Answers Search All Answer Topics Legal Forums Bankruptcy Forum Business Forum Criminal Forum Employment Forum Family Forum Immigration Forum Real Estate Forum All legal Discussions Lawyer Blogs Personal Injury Blog Automobile Accidents doctor medication error Blog Administrative Law Blog Criminal Law Blog Family Law Blog Divorce Blog More Lawyers Blogs Free, Personalized Answers From Expert Lawyers Lawyers from our extensive network ready to answer your question. 0 out of 150 characters Ask a Lawyer Home Medical Malpractice Medical Malpractice Basics Can I Sue Over a Prescribed Medication? Medical Malpractice Medical Malpractice Can I Sue Over a Prescribed Medication? By Neil Goodman Prescription medications are invaluable for countless patients, but often these medications cause serious side effects. A prescription needs to be properly written, filled, and administered, or any resulting harm to the patient may lead to a lawsuit. As almost any pharmaceutical company advertisement will tell you, prescribed medications often come with side effects that can be pretty significant. If these side effects aren't properly considered or disclosed, or if there is a mistake in the prescription process, those errors can form the basis of a viable medical malpractice lawsuit or product liability claim. Prescription Drugs and Health Care Provider Duties A "side effect" is essentially a symptom that is unrelated to the condition for which the medication was taken. Some of the more serious examples o