Indiana Injury Lawyer Blog

When a medication or drug comes with a “single-dose” or “single-use” labeling, it is specifically required to be used for a single patient, and must not be used for multiple patients. However, the use of single-dose or single-use vials for multiple patients is fairly common at hospitals around the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that such practices may have a detrimental effect on patient safety, and may contribute to infections.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report in which it followed two serious epidemics that were traced to the use of single-use vials for multiple patients. These cases occurred in Arizona and Delaware, where a total of 10 patients were reported hospitalized due to life-threatening MRSA or staph infections. The infections were traced to the use of single-dose vials of contrast agents on multiple patients. Contrast agents are used to provide clearer x-ray images.

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Thousands of people are killed every year due to medical errors, and a large number of these errors have to do with prescription mistakes. According to new research, doctors who use electronic prescription tools to prescribe medications for patients not only make fewer errors, but also increase their patients’ adherence to medications.

Electronic prescriptions refer to the use of computer devices by doctors to prescribe medications for patients. These prescription tools do not involve the use of pen and paper, and this translates into great benefits. For one thing, a doctor who uses an electronic prescription system is less likely to make errors compared to a doctor who uses a pen and paper to write out a prescription. Additionally, with an e- prescription a pharmacist does not have to decipher a doctor’s illegible handwriting. Many prescription errors occur every year because pharmacists make critical errors while reading a doctor’s handwritten prescription.

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A new study by the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services finds that more often than not, staff at hospitals fail to report medical errors. In fact, according to the study, staff recognize and report just one out of every 7 medical errors that harm Medicare patients in the hospital.

The study was conducted by Daniel Levinson, Inspector General of the Department Health and Human Services. In his report based on a survey of hospital administrators, he says that in spite of hospitals trying to foster an environment that encourages staff to report medical errors, far too many medical errors are going unreported. Many of these errors resulted in adverse patient events, like bedsores, delirium from over use of painkillers, as well as bleeding from the use of blood thinning medications. In all these cases, the errors contributed to adverse patient events that actually cause fatalities.

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Patients who are hospitalized for treatment are just as likely to die from preventable medical errors, as they were a few years ago. There has been little progress in preventing these errors and saving patient lives, in spite of education campaigns and other efforts. That information comes from a study conducted at several North Carolina hospitals.

The researchers reviewed 2,341 patient records in 10 hospitals in North Carolina. They used a list of 54 red flags to indicate a possible adverse event, including readmission to hospital within a period of 30 days and bed sores. The study found at least 588 instances in which patients were harmed by medical care. That works out to approximately 25.1 injuries for every 100 hospital admissions. Those are staggeringly high numbers for any Indiana medical malpractice attorney to stomach.

Continue reading "Study Shows No Decline in Deaths from Preventable Medical Errors" »

Montross Miller Muller Mendelson & Kennedy is a team of attorneys and staff committed to serving the Indianapolis medical malpractice and personal injury needs. If you or a loved one has been injured due to the negligent act of a doctor, hospital or business, please call 888-599-2640 and speak with our staff.

For long now, doctors have noticed that the number of medical errors is constant for all months of the year, except in July when there is a noticeable spike in medication errors. It has been suspected that this spike is because more interns are coming in at teaching hospitals during this month. A study by researchers at UC San Diego, now confirms this.

The researchers have published the results of a study, that show that July is easily the worst month when it comes to medication errors. In fact, it's the worst month that you could choose to check into a hospital, simply because you're likely to be treated by inexperienced interns. The rate of medical errors in the month of July is 10% higher than in other months of the year.

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For the first time, Thompson Reuters has included hospital readmission rates as one of the criteria for inclusion in its annual Top 100 Hospitals list.

However, measuring post-discharge care and dealing with factors that can contribute to a person being re-admitted into a hospital, have proved to be very complex and challenging. Hospitals that have included post-discharge care as part of their overall patient safety efforts, have found that there are a range of factors responsible for readmissions. For instance, readmission rates may be higher when an elderly patient is living alone. Many readmissions every year are traced to medication errors. Besides, a person who suffers from multiple medical conditions, could be at a higher risk of readmission.

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As Indiana medical malpractice lawyers, we are always looking for ways that patients can protect themselves from medication errors. We came across this simple checklist that a patient can use to take the right medication and the right dosage of medication.

The list outlines three “checkpoints” at which errors can be caught and rectified.

The first checkpoint is at the doctor’s office when you receive your prescription. Make sure that the doctor or nurse informs you of the:
• Drug name
• Strength
• Dosage
• Dosage procedure
• Why you need the medicine
• What the medication will do
• How quickly you will see results

Remember those drugs are going into your system, and ultimately will affect your health. You have every right as a patient to demand information, and your doctor has every duty to provide the information you need.

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Approximately 1.3 million people in the country, including thousands in Indiana, are injured every year from medication errors. Of these:

* 41 percent of deaths were linked to improper dosage
* 16 percent involved distribution of the wrong medicine
* another 16 percent was attributed to the wrong route of medication administration

Now, a new national alert program is aiming to minimize the frequency of such medication errors.

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) have developed the National Alert Network for Serious Medication Errors. Actor Dennis Quaid recently announced the launch of the alert program. Quaid has some personal experience with the trauma that patients and families go through when they are injured by these preventable errors. In 2007, his twin boys were administered an excessive dose of the drug heparin. The event occurred at the Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

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Information released this week indicates that a request is before the Indiana Medical Licensing Board asking to consider extending a suspension for an Indiana physician.

The Indiana Medical Licensing Board met on October 27, 2009 and unanimously voted an emergency medical license suspension of an Indiana physician. Dr. Phillip D. Foley of Middletown, Indiana received a 90-day suspension after Indiana’s attorney general accused him of recklessly prescribing narcotics and sedatives. The state petition against Foley accuses him of at least nine overdose deaths.

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