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Medical Malpractice
- More heparin deaths? Yes, its true.
- Joint Commission Targeting Children Medication Mix-Ups
- Finding The Best ER For Your Child
- Why Free Drug Samples Are a Bad Idea
- Knee and Hip Replacements Expected to Spike
Firm News
Newport News Police Official Convicted of Drunken Driving
Three-Car Accident Kills One Person and Injures Four Others
Three High School Students Killed in a Car Crash in Virginia Beach
Young Volunteer Firefighter Killed in Crash
Former Virginia Tech Quarterback Found Guilty of DUI
Four Deaths on Virginia 151 Prompted Change
Fossella Found Guilty of Misdemeanor Charges of DUI in Virginia
Study Reveals 13% of Seniors Report Mistreatment
Grant Helps the Elderly Avoid Nursing Homes
Driver Convicted of DUI Death Arrested Again on DUI Charge
Firm Library
Nursing Home Abuse
- Virginia Adult and Elder Abuse and Neglect Statistics
- Suspect Elder Abuse? Learn About Mandated Reporting
- Signs of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation
- Understaffed Nursing Homes can Lead to Elder Abuse
- Rights of Nursing Home Residents
Personal Injury and Automobile Accidents
- No Civil Liability for Hosts or Bars in Virginia
- Is Your Car Spying On You?
- What can be done about teen car deaths?
- Common Questions about Virginia’s Seat Belt Laws
- What the Injured Worker Gets
Medical Malpractice
- Website Allows Consumers to Compare Hospitals
- New Technology may Reduce Physician Mistakes
- Shortage of On-Call Specialists at Hospitals is Costing Patients
- Transient Ischemic Attacks & Strokes
- How Medical Mistakes are Costing U.S. Healthcare $8.8 Billion
DUI, Traffic and Criminal Law Defense
- Having one more for the road may skew breath tests
- The Federal Government’s Answer to Hard Core Drinking and Driving
- All about the Walk and Turn Field Sobriety Test
- Requesting a Restricted License in Virginia
- Ignition Interlock Devices & DUI Law
Divorce
General
Why is Heparin Killing Babies?
After more than 80 deaths were blamed on possible contamination from a Chinese supplier, the blood-thinning drug heparin has been in the news a great deal lately. Heparin has even had a brush with celebrity in 2007, when actor Dennis Quaid’s twins received 1,000 the usual dose of heparin when only 2 weeks old. Mr. Quaid was so shaken by the mistake that he and his wife started The Quaid Foundation to fight the causes of hospital errors. Ultimately the Quaid twins survived, but unfortunately other babies have not been so lucky.
The most recent cases were in a Texas hospital, when 17 babies each received 10,000 units of heparin instead of 10 and the error was not caught for two days. Unfortunately two babies lost their lives, although the medical examiner has not yet ruled if the deaths can in fact be blamed on the heparin overdose. This time, a mistake made while mixing the drugs in the hospital pharmacy was blamed for the overdoses.
Drug Mistakes – “Depressingly Normal”?
This isn’t the first time that a heparin mistake has killed babies. A similar incident in 2006 killed three babies, when a pharmacy technician stocked a cabinet with vials of heparin that contained a dose 1,000 times the usual amount. Not only were the doses incorrect, but the nurses who administered the drug did not notice that the vials were the wrong color (dark blue instead of baby blue) and that the label on the vials said “heparin” instead of “help-lock”.
An Institute of Medicine report has estimated that more than 1.5 million Americans a year are injured from medication errors in hospitals and nursing homes and as outpatients. Two years ago co-author of the study said of the Indiana overdoses that these kinds of mistakes are “depressingly normal”. This is a shocking comment on the state of the American healthcare system. What are we to do if even some of our most vulnerable patients – newborn babies – are suffering from drug overdoses?
Proposed Solutions for Drug Overdoses
A number of solutions have been proposed by activists and experts to prevent these kinds of deadly drug overdoses from occurring.
- Clearer labeling for drugs, with better label distinction between different doses
- Requiring nurses to have one or two other nurses check that they are administering the correct dose of the correct drug to the correct patient
- Barcode labels for drug vials
- Computerized medication systems (currently only used in about 10% of all hospitals, according to one source)
Critics have cited a drive for profit as one reason for an increase in medical errors, as more nurses are working longer hours and taking care of more patients which some believe naturally leads to unavoidable human errors. Unfortunately, even after the publicity and changes made after the Indiana incident in 2006 the Quaid twins received a similar heparin overdose. Then even after Mr. Quaid’s well-publicized activism the 17 babies in this most recent case received overdoses. Clearly a viable solution has not been found, or at least has not been implemented effectively.
Whatever the causes of a medical mistake, patients have rights and deserve justice for their suffering. If you or someone you love has been injured by the negligence of a doctor, healthcare professional, or hospital then we can help. Please contact Weisberg & Zaleski today to discuss your case with us for no charge and no obligation.
Weisberg & Zaleski, P.C.
112 College Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
Toll Free: (800) 690-0235
Phone: (757) 622-7740
Fax: (757) 533-9223
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Weisberg & Zaleski, P.C.
112 College Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
Toll Free: (800) 690-0235
Phone: (757) 622-7740
Fax: (757) 533-9223
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