Posted on 11/20/2011 11:52:43 PM PST by LibWhacker
A 79-year-old man died after a nurse mistakenly gave him a drug used in state executions rather than an over-counter medicine.
Richard Smith was admitted to hospital in Miami, Florida, after complaining of stomach pains and shortness of breath.
The former teacher was prescribed Pepcid, an over-the-counter antacid, to try and cure the problem. Dead: Richard Smith, 79, was admitted to hospital in Miami, Florida, after complaining of stomach pains and shortness of breath
Dead: Richard Smith, 79, was admitted to hospital in Miami, Florida, after complaining of stomach pains and shortness of breath
But nurse Uvo Ologboride picked up a vial of Pancuronium from a locked drug cart and injected it into the former teacher's IV tube.
The drug is given to death row inmates being put to death.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Dreadful. RIP.
Pardon my lack of medical background here, but if Pancuronium is the drug for lethal injections, WTH was that nurse thinking, if killing the patient WASN`T intent???
Stay tuned for the lawsuit. It`ll be a big one.
English is her second language. Sometimes we assume refugees are ready to do any job, when the language they speak at home is not English. Mexicans sometimes come up who don’t even speak Spanish.
The story said it was in UK
Her mistake with it’s fatal outcome is, sadly, far from rare.
No, the story said it was in Miami.
I am terribly allergic to traditional medical treatment, facilities, personnel. I will die due to my own incompetence in dealing with as issue on MY BODY, which I know well... NOT the incompetence of others
You don’t read english well yourself since it says Miami, Florida three times in the excerpt alone.
What? You thought medicine was some sort of science?
Do not go to the hospital if at all avoidable, especially on weekends and holidays when most of the medical staff and nurses are from non-English-speaking countries.
Bad things happen when your caregivers cannot read English.
Before we go on; exactly why was the nurse in possession of an execution drug?
It couldn’t have been the UK. If it was, the guy would still be alive and waiting to be admitted to the hospital.
Unlike a certain member of the staff...
This like taking your car to [Kwicky] Lube for an oil change and having them wreck the engine. It’s called iatrogenic disease.
Hospitals must have changed dramatically since my Mom had been a nurse. One nurse was assigned the “key” to the drug box. If any nurse got an order for a medication, TWO nurses had to take the medicine out, check it and document it. If the “key” nurse was given an order, she still needed a second nurse to check the order, and document it. This was done so mistakes would be reduced or eliminated AND so no one nurse “helped” herself to what was in the drug box. Either this policy is no longer in use OR this nurse didn’t follow protocol.
Excuse indeed. Can’t believe the nurse got off that easy.
The guy was old and not likely to live much longer anyway.
If Obamacare was fully implemented, this nurse would have gotten a bonus for saving the government money.
I believe the language was the problem here but certainly not the only problem. The nurse didn’t follow the scanning procedures that would have prevented any error in giving wrong meds to a patient.
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