Wrongful Death

Medication Errors Linked to Death of Patient in Nursing Home

July 8, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a recent Baltimore pharmacy error injury blog, our attorneys discussed a pharmacy misfill and medication error that lead to a 94-year-old nursing home resident’s wrongful death in New York, after she received the incorrect medication for nearly twenty days as a result of a pharmacy misfill.

In a related news report, a patient in a nursing home, also in the State of New York, has recently died, after medication errors allegedly led to her wrongful death.

The patient reportedly entered the Lake Ridge Care Center on the 10th of January in 2010, due to congestive heart failure and low potassium. Her doctor reportedly ordered that the she receive three doses (two-tablets) of potassium every day. According to the New York State investigation, the staff of the home failed to properly administer twenty-six of the medication doses to the patient over a period of eight days.

On January 23, 2011, the patient was reportedly sent to the hospital emergency room, where she suffered a severely abnormal heart rhythm and died the same day, from cardiac arrest. Her potassium levels were found to be extremely low, due to medication errors that led her to miss her prescribed potassium doses to help blood pump through the heart.

FDA Warns of Confusion between Risperdal and Requip, Leading to Medication Error

June 27, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning about the potentially dangerous medication errors occurring with the drugs Risperdal (risperidone) and Requip (ropinrole)—with 226 reports of patients accidentally receiving the wrong drug, causing sickness and at least one death.

Risperdal (risperidone) is an antipsychotic used for the treatment of schizophrenia, autism side effects and bipolar disorder, and is reportedly being confused with Requip (ropinirole), a drug used for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and Restless Legs Syndrome, that acts in place of dopamine.

According to the Food and Drug Administration report, the medication errors are happening as a result of the drug name similarity as well as the similarity in generic drug labels and packaging, with overlapping drug characteristics such as the drug strengths, and dosing intervals. Other errors have reportedly stemmed from illegible handwriting on prescriptions.

Patients who were victims of the medication errors have reportedly experienced confusion, tiredness, hallucinations, and an altered or changed mental status, among others health problems.

The FDA warns patients who are taking the generic versions of Requip or Risperdal to notice the name and appearance of their medication, to know exactly why they are taking the drug, and to ask any questions and to report any difference in medication appearance to their pharmacists—to avoid pharmacy misfills or medication errors.

Hospital Fined $50K in Medication Mistake

June 3, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In recent news that our Rockville, Maryland medication error injury attorneys have been following, twelve Los Angeles-area hospitals were hit with administrative penalties this week by the California Department of Public Health, ranging from $25,000 up to $75,000, after the facilities were found to be non-compliant with requirements that were likely to cause serious injury or death to patients.

One medical center, Promises Hospital, was reportedly fined $50,000 for a medication mix-up that caused a patient with a heart condition to require emergency response.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a medication error was reported in 2010 that led to the inspection of Promises Hospital. The inspectors reportedly found that a patient was given a dose of Cardizem, the drug used to treat irregular heart rhythms, that was 10 times the ordered dose—causing the patient’s heart rate to drop so quickly that the nurse was unable to get a blood reading for almost 10 minutes.

According to the department, when problems are found in facilities, hospitals must take corrective actions to prevent any similar medication errors or other problems from happening in the future, and causing injury or death to patients.

Promises Hospital reportedly claimed that it has initiated an investigation into the drug error, and has taken the necessary steps to prevent this medication mix-up for happening again in the future.

Lack of Medication Adherence Can Cause Serious Medication Reactions and Injury

May 16, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The Institute of Medicine, reports that every year, 1.5 million people are injured by medication-related events. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), that our Baltimore medication error injury attorneys have been following, a recent report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), found that the number of patients treated in hospitals across the country for illnesses and personal injuries from incorrectly taking medications like sedatives, blood thinners, corticosteroids and other drugs, increased over 50% from 2004 to 2008.

The report also found that over 800,000 U.S. patients were also treated in emergency rooms across the country in medication-related events, stemming from the incorrect usage of antibiotics, insulin, painkillers, and cardiovascular and other drugs. The WSJ looked at some of these individual drugs, to examine how they can cause personal harm or injury if taken incorrectly. According to the report:

• Antibiotics can cause an allergic reaction if taken incorrectly, and can also fail to properly fight infections. Also, when taking antibiotics, patients are generally cautioned to limit sun exposure, as it can cause extreme sunburns.
• Painkillers can cause breathings problems or even death if taken with alcohol or other sedatives or painkillers. OTC products that contain the ingredient acetaminophen can harm the liver if taken with a combination of opioid-acetaminophen drugs.
• Antidepressants and tranquilizers, if taken incorrectly, can lead to panic attacks and suicidal tendencies or actions.
• If taken erroneously, corticosteroids prescribed for asthma, arthritis, transplant patients, ulcerative colitis, and other conditions, can worsen other health conditions, like high blood pressure, blood sugar problems, ulcers, and diabetes, and can also lead to withdrawal if a patient stops taking them suddenly.
• Insulin, if not taken as prescribed, can both increase or reduce a patient’s blood-sugar levels, leading to shock and other health complications.
• If a patient fails to take blood thinners correctly, a high dose that is too high can cause bruising, excessive bleeding, whereas a dose that is too low can cause clotting. Effectiveness of the drug can also be threatened when interacting with other medications.
• Blood pressure drugs can also, if the medication is taken erroneously, cause a spike in blood pressure, and an overdose can cause chest pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, a fast or abnormally slow heartbeat, and can also cause coma.
• Cancer drugs, when taken in error, can cause fever, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, diarrhea, cause confusion and fatigue, and when an overdose is taken, can even cause death.

Pharmaceutical Company Must Reveal Fentanyl Patch Data in Wrongful Death Lawsuit

April 27, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a recent Maryland pharmacy error injury lawyer blog, our attorneys discussed the increasing medication errors resulting from the incorrect administration of Fentanyl, the strong pain relieving medication patch. If a medication error occurs with Fentanyl, the improper administration of the drug can lead to a drug overdose or even wrongful death.

In a recent wrongful death lawsuit that our Baltimore pharmacy error attorneys have been following, Monika Standing and Chris Bristol are suing Watson Pharmaceuticals and two corporate affiliates after their daughter Nicole died three weeks after using the 75-microgram time-released fentanyl patches in January 2008. Nicole’s parents claim that her fentanyl patch, made by Watson, leaked—causing Nicole to suffer an overdose of the fentanyl gel inside, leading to her death.

According to the lawsuit, the fentanyl patches made by Watson used a faulty design, creating a patch that was prone to leaks, which lead to possible overdoses and deaths. Other patches made by competitors reportedly had a safer patch design that did not leak.

Last week, as the case developed, a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge reportedly ordered Watson Pharmaceuticals to turn over pain patch samples, any materials used for commercials or marketing, all written communication between Watson Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration involving the usage and safety of the fentanyl patch, all experiments or studies done involving fentanyl patch levels in the user’s bloodstream when using the patch, all autopsy reports and papers involving deaths while using the patch, and transcripts of all depositions taken of any Watson employee or key expert witness in a previous defective fentanyl pain patch lawsuit, and also ordered certain key executives from the company to testify about the pain patches.

Hospital Sued for Wrongful Death After Patient Dies from Drug Error

March 22, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Our Baltimore-based pharmacy error injury attorneys have been following the recent and tragic news story surrounding a Massachusetts woman, who endured a hospital medication error during a routine hospital stay that reportedly led to her wrongful death.

According to the Boston Globe, Geraldine Oswald was hospitalized in November of last year to clear up an infection that had developed after breaking her shoulder. While staying in the hospital, she reportedly received too much Lepirudin, a blood-thinning drug used to prevent the formation of potentially dangerous blood clots. The medication overdose affected Oswald’s own blood clotting ability, leading to internal bleeding. While in the hospital’s care, Oswald reportedly hemorrhaged for 12 hours before her wrongful death—which the hospital later stated could have been preventable.

The family of Oswald recently stated that they plan to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Massachusetts General Hospital, two nurses and five doctors, claiming that Oswald was supposed to be treated for a common infection, and instead received a blood thinner that was 30 times too high in dosage, and proved to be lethal.

According to the hospital’s report, the on-duty nurse understood the dosage intended for Oswald, but made a medication error while administrating the dose into the I.V. pump. In a meeting with Oswald’s family members after her death, the hospital reportedly stated that the medical error was preventable.

Dangerous Safeway Pharmacy Mix-up Gives Pregnant Woman Wrong Medication

February 5, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In recent news that our pharmacy misfill injury attorneys in Washington, D.C. have been following, a medication error occurred in a local pharmacy, after a pregnant woman in Colorado was mistakenly given the incorrect medication for another patient who had a similar sounding name.

According to KDVR-TV, Mareena Silva, who is six weeks pregnant, went to Safeway to pick up her antibiotics and was mistakenly given the prescription for Maria Silva, containing Methotrexate, a medication reportedly used to treat cancer.

By the time Silva realized the pharmacy misfill, she had already reportedly taken the first pill. Silva reportedly rushed back to Safeway, where the pharmacist recommended that she throw the pill up, as it had been 30 minutes since she took the medication. Her doctor then sent an ambulance to Safeway.

Methotrexate, the drug Silva took due to the prescription mix-up, can reportedly cause birth defects in an unborn baby. The drug is also reportedly used to cause abortions in pregnancies that are troubled. The manufacturer also warns that there have been reported deaths linked to the incorrect administration of this drug.

After picking up what she thought was the antibiotic, the pharmacist reportedly even stated that the prescribed drug was not good for a pregnant woman. What Silva didn’t realize at the time is that the pharmacist was talking about the Methotrexate.

Study Finds Small Doses of Drugs From Syringes Could Cause Medication Error in Children

February 4, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As our Baltimore County pharmacy error attorneys discussed in a recent blog, according to a recent study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), medical errors are a leading cause of personal injury and death in this country, and rates for possible adverse drug events were three times higher with children than adults in hospitals, with an even higher rate for infants in intensive care units.

In a new study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, a report found that preparing small medication dosages from syringes for infants and children can be dangerously inaccurate and cause medication dosing errors.

According to the report, in administering potent drugs to young patients, small doses are often prepared from medication stock of less than 0.1 milliliter (mL) in size, but the current equipment used to administer the drug does not allow for the correct and accurate measuring of drug volumes that are less than 0.1 mL.

Dr. Christopher Parshuram, the author of the study, who works in the University of Toronto’s Department of Pediatrics and directs the University of Toronto Center for Patient Safety’s Pediatric Patient Safety Research, stated that medications regularly requiring small doses include narcotics and sedatives that are extremely powerful, such as morphine and fentanyl—both drugs that as our Maryland medication error attorneys have reported in a recent blog, have a high-risk for medication mistakes which could lead to patient injury or wrongful death.

ISMP—Prescribing Fentanyl Pain Medication for Short-Term Pain Be Deadly

January 25, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a recent blog, our Baltimore County pharmacy misfill attorneys discussed the prevalence of medication error cases resulting from the incorrect administration of the strong pain relieving medication Fentanyl, also called Duragesic—that if used erroneously can lead to a drug overdose and even wrongful death.

According to a recent article by Michael Cohen, president of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, (ISMP), Fentanyl is around 100 times more powerful than morphine and for that reason should only be prescribed to people with chronic and long-term pain, like cancer patients, who are opiod-tolerant from already taking heavy prescription narcotics, or opioids, for one week or longer. As Cohen describes, Fentanyl is effective for three days, keeping patients with long-term pain from having to medicate repeatedly during the day.

As our Baltimore, Maryland medication error attorneys reported in a related blog, Fentanyl should only be used with patients who are opioid-tolerant because even the lowest strength Fentanyl patches have the ability to cause major side effects, like breathing difficulties, which can lead to wrongful death. According to the 2007 FDA warning, the Fentanyl patch should not be used with patients who are not opioid-tolerant.

Cohen explains that patients who are opioid tolerant and tolerant of other prescription pain medications have less of a chance of experiencing breathing difficulty when using a Fentanyl patch that is properly prescribed, as stopped breathing is often what kills patients in an overdose. According to Cohen, the big medication mistake currently being made by doctors is using Fentanyl to treat pain post-surgery pain, called acute postoperative pain, which should be treated by using other painkillers.

The ISMP has reportedly been receiving fatality reports since the drug has been introduced, but September of last year proved to be a devastating month for Fentanyl medication overdoses, as three tragic deaths occurred after patients were given Fentanyl by their doctors erroneously, with doses that were too high, at 50mcg/hour.

Pharmacy, Nursing Home Sued After Pharmacy Misfill Leads to Resident’s Death

January 7, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In recent news that our Washington D.C. pharmacy error attorneys have been following, a nursing home was fined $12,000 last month, after a pharmacy misfill caused a nursing home resident to receive the incorrect medication for 18 days, leading to her wrongful death.

The Auburn Citizen reports that according to an investigation by the New York State Health Department in March and April of 2009, Geraldine Burke, a 94-year-old resident, was given tablets of a blood pressure medicine and diuretic by three different nurses in the Cayuga County Nursing Home, instead of the thyroid medication she had been prescribed.

The tragic medication error reportedly happened as a result of a pharmacy misfill, where a technician at HealthDirect, a separate division of Kinney Drugs that provides pharmacy services for more than 100 facilities, had filled and shipped the wrong medication for Burke. The two medications reportedly had similar looking names—methimazole and metolazone—a common medication mistake that plagues pharmacies in this country, as our lawyers have reported in a recent blog.

Neither the pharmacy or the nursing home recognized the mistake, and Burke was given 11 doses of Metolazone, the diuretic. The autopsy reportedly found that Burke died from heart issues, that were a result of kidney failure, worsened by the diuretic, along with other conditions. When the facility discovered the medication error after her death, they reported it to the Health Department, where they were fined $12,000. Burke’s family sued Cayuga County for negligence, and in turn Cayuga sued HealthDirect for their pharmacy misfill.