Infant Medication Errors

Infant Medication Errors

Recent Article States that Infants Most at Risk for Medication Errors in a Hospital Setting

Market Watch revealed that three deaths occurred when a higher dose of a Heparin Sodium injection was given to patients instead of a lower dose of Hep-Lock U/P.  According to the release, both products are sold in the same sized vial and both use similar color patterns.  The three patients were infants who died at a particular Indiana hospital.

The Miami Herald recently reported a study which found that infants face the greatest risk of harmful medication errors associated with surgeries.  According to the study, medication errors involve both antibiotics and pain relievers and range from the patients getting too much of the medication, not getting the medication at all and even getting the wrong medication.  This was the largest study of its kind which investigated more than 11,000 medication errors in 500 hospitals over a 7-year period. 

According to the Miami Herald, the report blamed poor coordination between medical staff members in the different departments and that pediatric nurses appear to be unfamiliar with certain drugs for surgery "and may seek information about them from out-dated reference manuals."

If you suspect that a loved one or close family friend suffered a catastrophic injury due to a medication error, you may be entitled to seek compensation for your suffering.  Contact an attorney at Freidin · Dobrinsky toll-free at 1-866-495-8060 for a free consultation. You may also contact an attorney by submitting the firm's online consultation form .

• 20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors in Children: Patient Fact Sheet
  Medical errors are one of the Nation's leading causes of death and injury. Rates of medication errors and adverse drug events for hospitalized children were comparable to rates for hospitalized adults in a 2001 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. However, the rate for potential adverse drug events was three times higher in children, and substantially higher still for babies in neonatal intensive care units. Studies of medical errors outside the hospital are just getting underway.
  
  This fact sheet is intended to help parents help their children avoid medical errors.
  Select for PDF File (283 KB). PDF Help.
  
  
• PDF: Types of medical errors at hospitals
• PDF: How to protect yourself
• PDF: Important Medication Safety Alert: Baxter Heparin Sodium Injection 10,000 Units/ML & Hep-Lock U/P 10 Units/ML

• FDA NEWS: Heparin Sodium Injection 10,000 units/mL, and HEP-LOCK U/P 10 units/mL Medication Errors
  Baxter and FDA notified healthcare professionals of the potential for life threatening medication errors involving two Heparin products, Heparin Sodium Injection 10,000 units/mL, and HEP-LOCK U/P 10 units/mL. Baxter is aware of fatal medication errors that have occurred when two Heparin products with shades of blue labeling were mistaken for each other. Three infant deaths resulted when the higher dosage Heparin Sodium Injection 10,000 units/mL was inadvertently administered instead of the lower dosage of HEP-LOCK U/P 10 units/mL. The currently marketed 1 mL vials of both Heparin products use blue as the prominent background color on their labels...
  
  
• Study Finds Widespread Medication Errors During Surgery
  When Do Mistakes Most Often Occur and What Should Patients Do?
  Surgery patients are three times more likely to experience a harmful medication error than patients anywhere else in the health care system, according to a study released this morning.
  
  United States Pharmacopeia, a nonprofit agency that examines and sets standards for pharmaceutical use, looked at the 11,000 medication errors in the last seven years. The study was the the largest ever on medication errors made in hospitals before, after and during surgery. All of the mistakes involved health care workers giving patients the wrong amount of medicine or the wrong medicine altogether.
  
  Mistakes Differ Between Kids and Adults
  
  One of those victims was 1-week-old Dawn Jeffries. She was one of six premature babies accidentally given an adult dose of the blood thinner Heparin at an Indianapolis hospital. "My baby was fine before they gave her the Heparin," said Heather Jeffries, Dawn's mother...
  
  
• Report: 77 Serious Medical Errors In Indiana In 2006: Medical Errors Report First Ordered By Governor
  Indiana hospitals and surgery centers reported 77 serious medical errors in 2006, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the state Department of Health. The report showed 23 cases of severe bedsores, 21 cases of leaving a foreign object in a surgery patient and six deaths or serious disabilities from medication errors...
  
  
• Medical errors see light of day: Indiana becomes 2nd state to release data in nod toward better patient safety
  Indiana's inaugural report on medical errors reveals that 77 serious preventable mistakes were made in 2006 and represents just the first step toward improving patient safety, state and hospital officials say...