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Parents Take Sick 2-Month-Old To Doctors, What Happens Next Has Hospital Apologizing
Parents trust hospitals and doctors implicitly when their children are in a medical crisis. But one family in Tennessee was outraged when a hospital made matters worse, not better, for their sick child.
When Tavares Sheeks brought his 2-month-old daughter to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, he hoped doctors could relieve her respiratory illness. Instead, the hospital accidentally administered a dangerously high dosage of painkillers to the child.
As Fox 13 reported, hospital nurses gave Sheeks’ daughter the wrong dose of medicine.
“Overdosing on a 2-month-old? I just told them they would hear from my lawyer,” the distraught father said.
After the medication was administered, the Sheeks took their daughter home. But when the child had not awoken three hours later, they knew something was wrong.
Shortly afterward, the hospital called and asked the parents to bring the child back to the hospital as soon as possible.
The hospital’s staff had somehow confused the recommended 0.2 milligrams of methadone with the 2 milligrams they administered. The parents were outraged.
“I don’t understand,” an exasperated Sheeks said. “I’m not even a doctor, but I don’t understand how could you mix 0.2 milligrams and 2 full milligrams.”
Hospital officials refused to discuss the case citing federal law governing patient privacy. Sheeks said the hospital apologized to him after he threatened to bring a lawsuit.
“I accept their apology, but I’m still lost on how could you make a mistake with a 2-month-old,” Sheeks insisted.
A recent study claimed as many as 440,000 Americans die every year in medical accidents and medical malpractice. The study, published in the Journal of Patient Safety in 2014, called the prevalence of preventable medical errors an epidemic, not just for the pain and agony it causes patients but also the tens of billions of dollars the errors cost the country each year.
h/t: Opposing Views
Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/parents-take-sick-2-month-old-to-doctors-what-happens-next-has-hospital-apologizing/
