Study Shows Drug Errors are Common During Surgery

 About half of all surgeries involve some type of medication error or unintended drug side effects. According to a study done by researchers at the anesthesiology department at the Massachusetts General Hospital who observed 277 procedures there, the rate of drug errors is startlingly high compared to earlier studies that were done. A report in the Boston Globe states that earlier studies that found drug errors to be rare, however, relied on data from clinicians rather than direct observation.

Lethal Medical Errors
Based on the findings of the study, there is a substantial potential for harm caused by medication errors and a lot of room for improvement when it comes to safety. More than one-third of the observed errors resulted in some type of injury or harm to the patient. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine identified medical errors as a leading cause of death killing at least 44,000 Americans a year. That was a number higher than fatalities caused by car accidents or breast cancer. Since then, hospitals have made an attempt at improving safety during surgery with simple checklists to avoid mistakes such as operating on the wrong side of the body.
Drug Errors Can Cause Harm
In addition, hospitals have switched to electronic prescribing systems that can help raise red flags about potential errors. Drugs delivered during surgery don’t have the same safeguards other medication orders do. With prescriptions, pharmacists and nurses double-check the orders before they reach a patient. During surgery, things happen with a sense of urgency and patients’ conditions may change rapidly, prompting medical professionals to take immediate action and circumvent processes. The study found that some kind of mistake was made in about one out of every 20 drug administrations.
A number of drugs are used during surgery from anesthesia to antibiotics. The study found that surgeries that lasted more than six hours were more likely to involve a medication error compared to shorter procedures. The report recommends improvement in hospital safety measures involving both processes and technology such as bar code scanning systems that can alert doctors to potential errors.
Types of Drug Errors
There are a number of drug errors that may occur in a medical setting. Some of the most common mistakes made when it comes to medication include:
• Giving the patient the wrong medication or drug.
• Giving or administering the patient, the wrong dosage of drug. Patients may suffer if too much or too little of the drug is administered.
• Mislabeling the medication.
• Administering a drug to which the patient is allergic.
• Administering a drug that reacts negatively with other medications that the patient is taking.
• Failure to warn the patient about the drug’s side effects.
Who is Liable?
Drug error cases are typically filed against individual doctors, pharmacists, nurses, hospitals or drug manufacturers. However, the key in determining liability in a drug error case involves establishing precisely what caused the injury or harm. For example, if a properly prescribed drug was administered improperly by a nurse or anesthesiologist, the hospital can be held liable.
On the other hand if an improperly prescribed drug was properly administered by hospital staff, then the physician who prescribed the drug or the pharmacist and maybe the hospital who dispensed it may be held liable. Preserving important evidence such as medical records is key when it comes to determining liability in a drug error case. Medical records, pharmacy records and nurses’ charts are critical when it comes to piecing together who was at fault and what went wrong.
Compensation for Victims
Victims of medication errors have legal rights. Patients who have suffered harm due to such medical negligence can seek compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost income and benefits, hospitalization, unnecessary procedures, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. Families that have lost loved ones can seek compensation for their losses by filing a wrongful death claim
If you or a loved one was the victim of a drug error or some other type of medical negligence, the New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options. Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
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1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
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Source: Boston Globe