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 ...
Nurse Uvo Ologboride - Must be one of those blond haired green eyed Irish lasses.
The nurse was just getting an early start on Obamacare.
It cured the stomach problem.
I’d really like to hear one good reason why Pancuronium is in a hospital and how such a mistake could possibly be made. I hate the sound of this. I lost my dad last year, hours after a fairly routine trip to the hospital for nerve pain and it still haunts me. I fear for our seniors and what “health care” will mean to them in the days ahead. I pray those days haven’t already arrived.
The drug can be used in surgery, but apparently it takes a very long time to wear off.
I take that back. Amazingly the nurse was only fined $2,800, reprimanded and had to attend a re-training course.
What a nice family he had and married 55 years. What sorrow they had to endure because of the nurse’s careless work which turned deadly and their consequence is only a slap on the hand. Obamacare must be in full swing in FL.
What’s the nurse say for herself? It’s not the medicine that counts, it’s all in the execution!
The bottles looked similar was her answer. But she failed to do any scanning of patient’s hospital tag and medication. She screwed up big in spite of safeguard procedures, IMO.
Famotidine (Pepcid) is available injectable and used to prevent ulcers in the hospital. Not sure how she could confuse that with pancuronium. Not even close to the same names.
“The nurse said the package looked the same”.
Okay, that makes more sense. It’s a muscle relaxant that happens to be used in the second phase of the lethal injection process. At least the stuff belongs in a hospital.
How this woman confused it with OTC Pepsid is still completely bizarre.
These things happen all the time, it is just that usually it is a harmless mistake and not a lethal one.
But the words look quite different! What an excuse!!!
Just imagine the coming lawsuit.
Their insurance company better have deep pockets.
It has specific, legitimate hospital uses in some CRITICAL CARE cases, and requires the concurrent use of a mechanical ventilator. Calling it a "death row drug" is just British sensationalism.
Potassium chloride is (or was) also used on death rows, so could be called a "death row drug" too; but it would be hard to operate a modern hospital without it.
Two points:
1. I give pancuronium for a living. The top of the vial says something like (can’t remember exact words) “warning: paralytic”
2. When you start hiring people for whom English is a second language, this sort of stuff happens. I’m going out on a limb here, but I’ll assume from this nurse’s name, he/she is not a native-born American.
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