Drug Error Prevention May Be Lacking in Hospitals, Nursing Homes

Rick is a Virginia injury attorney who handles car accidents, medical malpractice, FELA, wrongful death, etc.

7/21/2010
Richard N. Shapiro
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Drug Error Prevention May Be Lacking in Hospitals, Nursing Homes

Inadequate licensing oversight of nurses may be putting patients in North Carolina (NC), Virginia (VA) and throughout the United States at risk for serious medication errors and other lapses in health care. An investigation by USA Today and ProPublica found several instances of drug addicted nurses moving easily from or to hospitals in North Carolina. In at least one case "a parent complained that [an addicted nurse] was falling asleep while attempting to insert an IV in her child. A hospital review found that he signed out the painkiller Demerol on dozens of occasions without a physician's order."

Impaired, undertrained or simply inattentive nurses are not the only health care providers endangering patients. Statistics published in 2006 show that over a nine-month period, 9,272 medication errors occurred in North Carolina nursing homes. Not every potentially harmful prescription actually reached a patient, but prescribing and administration errors involved hydrocodone, fentanyl and lorazepam.

The issue of medication errors takes on greater significance during July, when often-inexperienced new staff come on board in hospital, nursing homes, walk-in clinics and neighborhood pharmacies have fewer people working.

My colleagues and I have seen time and time again how the wrong drug for the wrong patient can lead to loss of life or irreversible injury. Every member of a family--and society in general--depends on skilled, competent nursing care, and it is inexcusable when a facility fails to monitor a nurse and ensure that each nurse is competent, much less showing warning signs of personal prescription drug abuse.

EJL

Category: Medical Malpractice/Doctor Mistakes

Labels: administration Death doctor drug errors hospital injury law lawyer loss of life malpractice medical pharmacist pharmacy Shapiro wrongful death

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have extensive experience handling medical malpractice and doctor mistake cases. Please take a few moments to review our medical malpractice case results. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Suffolk, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by the carelessness of a doctor, surgeon, nurse or pharmacist.

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