Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

MSNBC is reporting a case of medication error. This story involves a 62-year-old woman who was supposed to receive one kind of pain medication but instead was given an epilepsy drug. This drug was also administered to her in a dose that was far higher than any doctor would ever recommend. Within days of taking this pill, the woman committed suicide. While this may seem to be a strange reaction to a epilepsy drug, suicidal actions are a known risk of Lacital. An autopsy confirmed that the drug was in her system. This woman’s death is one of more than 5 million wrong-drug errors that occur each year. Oftentimes this occurs because the drugs have similar sounding names. The Institute of Medicine believes that 7,000 people die each year in the U.S. from medication errors.

A report by U.S. Pharmacopeia found that 1,500 drugs have names that are so similar that they are oftentimes confused with one or more medications. Due to these alarming facts, the FDA has launched a “Safe Use Initiative” which is aimed to curb the number of medication errors. The international drugmaker Takeda agreed to change the name of a heartburn drug Kapidex after there were reports that it was being confused with a prostate cancer drug. This is a positive reaction to these reports and other companies will follow suit. To learn more about this medical malpractice study, please check out this link.

About 325,00 medicine errors are serious enough to cause harm to patients. These include long-lasting injury or death. Many of these pharmaceutical errors include bad handwriting, workplace distractions, inexperienced staff and worker shortages. Pharmacy technicians are often involved in these look-alike errors, with almost 38 percent of these workers implicated in initial reports. If you have been a victim of medical error that caused serious injury, please consult a Chicago medical malpractice attorney.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that half of all automated Spanish versions of prescriptions have errors. They base this on a study that found that pharmacies that print prescription labels that translate into Spanish oftentimes have inaccurate or confusing instructions. These prescription errors can be potentially hazardous to a patient’s health. These researchers looked at over 70 medicine labels to come to the conclusion that the margin of error on translated prescriptions is 50 percent.

One example is that an anemic patient was placed on iron supplements. It was discovered after the patient had no improved iron levels that he had only been taking one drop of the supplement instead of the amount the doctor had prescribed. The patient was not taking the right amount because he was confused by the prescription instructions. One common problem in translated prescriptions is that once in Spanish means eleven. It can cause great problems when a prescription says take once a day, and a patient takes 11. Another problem is that English prescription instructions are not standardized. Since the same instructions can be written in multiple ways, it is difficult to translate every word to match the doctor’s wishes. These medical errors take place in Chicago pharmacies and hospitals throughout the city’s Spanish speaking neighborhoods.

These problems highlight why doctors and pharmacists need to go over all instructions with their patient’s to explain to them what doses and drugs need to be ingested. To read more about the medical error study, please click the link.

The Florida Appeals Court upheld an almost 26 million dollar verdict against a Walgreens Pharmacy after a teenage pharmacy technician improperly filled a prescription and killed a mother of three. The pharmacy technician typed in “ten milligrams” on the mother’s prescription when she should have typed one milligram. This case draws attention to the very troubling fact that there is no national standard for the training of pharmacy technicians. ABC news points out that in many states pharmacy technicians are not even required to have high school diplomas. Shockingly “a lot of the people working in the pharmacy have about the same level of training as someone that would be working in fast food," commented a lawyer who handles cases involving prescription errors. In addition, pharmacy technicians are overworked and are not closely supervised by licensed pharmacists.

Recently, Susan Novosad, a medical malpractice attorney at Levin and Perconti, settled a case against a Chicago-area pharmacy. This medical malpractice and negligence case was brought by the son of an 86-year-old man who died as a result of poor direction and instructions with regard to writing, filling and refilling his medication prescription. The mistakes made by the pharmacy were inexcusable and caused Susan’s client to lose his father. Susan hopes to warn others against the dangers of dosing errors in medication administration. If pharmacies do not change their ways, they will continue to kill victims because of negligence.

An autistic young man, who was unable to speak, entered a Children’s hospital for some routine dental work. The hospital made the reckless medical error of using a painkiller-laced patch though his procedure. This type of patch is usually only meant to ameliorate chronic pain in cancer patients and others. The victim was discharged and found dead in his bed the following morning. The medical examiner stated that he had died from a drug overdose caused by the fentanyl patch. This family alleges he should have never even been given the fentanyl patch, nevertheless the highest dose available. The hospital has already admitted they committed medical error in prescribing the drug to the young man. The drug now requires a pain-management specialist’s sign off before it is administered. According to the Federal Drug Administration, wrong prescription of the fentanyl patch has become a persistent problem across the country during recent years, leading to numerous reports of death and life-threatening injuries. The report shows that doctors have inappropriately prescribed the fentanyl patch to patients for acute pain following surgery, for headaches, occasional or mild pain, when it should not be prescribed. The family feels a great deal of remorse considering the egregioius and preventable mistake that caused their son’s death. If you or a loved one has been wrongly prescribed fentanyl, please consult an Illinois lawyer. To read more about the wrongful death, please click the link.

A young woman who decided to wear the Ortho Evra patch to control her migraines ended up in the emergency room with a 8 inch cerebral venous thrombosis. This thrombosis was in the crown of her head and went all the way down and wrapped around the right side of the jugular vein. Her doctor believed that since she had no clotting factors the only cause of her blood clot could be the Ortho Evra patch. Six months after the blood clot was discovered it was still in the young woman and she was on two kinds of blood thinners. After this medical malpractice incident the woman found other woman who had similar problems with the patch. There were two people who had died, one woman in the ICU and one woman who had a stroke. This medical malpractice case is a grave example of how a medical product can cause horrible problems. To read the full story, click here.

After the heparin contamination last year, the FDA is now forming a pilot program to study 100 applicants in their hopes to promote safety in foreign pharmaceutical ingredients. The heparin contamination was produced by foreign companies where numerous deaths were the result of adverse drug reactions to the substance. The FDA focuses on those companies that pose the highest risk in importing products that disobey FDA’s standards.

For the full story, click here.

A study suggests that anti-psychotic drugs commonly used to treat Alzheimer’s disease may double a patient’s chance of dying within a few years. The paper’s lead author suggests that, for the vast majority of Alzheimer’s patients, taking the drugs may not be a worthwhile risk. The studies, which used the actual drug and placebos, showed that those who take the drug are more likely to die of pneumonia. In the United States, guidelines advise doctors to use anti-psychotic drugs cautiously and temporarily. However, in many nursing homes up to 60 percent of patients with dementia are routinely given the drugs for one to two years. As an alternative to writing prescriptions for anti-psychotic drugs, doctors suggest using environmental or behavioral therapies. Experts believe that the drugs could create brain injuries and that their sedative effects make patients less able to exercise thus making them more susceptible to deadly infections. To read the full story, click here.

Two year old Emily Jerry died from a pharmacy medication error. She was given a fatal dosage of chemotherapy. Prior to her death, the little girl suffered a coma from the large overdose of medication. Emily’s Law was created to regulate pharmacy technicians like the one who overdosed Emily. The law requires pharmacy technicians to be at least 18, registered with the State board of Pharmacy, and pass a Board-approved competency exam.

For the full story, click here.

Researchers received $3.7 million to find ways to reduce medical error in various hospital and pharmacy departments. Researchers will try to develop safe ways in handling patient test results because receiving results are more difficult in larger hospital institutions. Also, the researchers will try and find safer ambulatory sedations. Another goal is to reduce medication error from high-risk medications.

For the full story, click here.

Studies show college students’ abuse of attention deficit medication is at an all time high. Abuse can create adverse drug reactions such as sleep problems, irritability, headaches, and developing drug dependency.

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Medical examiner Jan Garavaglia, M.D., offers tips on how to stay alive in her new book. First, she claims there are “1.7 million health care induced infections each year” that can be avoided. Second, she remembers her most memorable autopsy of a young boy who was given the wrong medicine due to pharmacy error and specifies ways on avoiding this deadly error.

For the full story, click here.

In order to avoid harmful drug interactions, it is a good idea to keep an updated list of medicines that you are taking in your wallet and next to the phone. Give a copy to a family member or caregiver. Be sure to describe your medications at your medical appointments. Include any herbal treatments and dietary supplements. Before you add any new drugs to your regimen, consult a physician. Do NOT take any medications that have been prescribed to someone else. Make a new year’s resolution to do your best to avoid harmful drug interactions.

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Doctors prescribe statin drugs to help lower cholesterol, but carry serious side effects such as muscle pain, neurological disorders, rashes and liver problems. In the latest study, eye disorders may also be attributed to this drug.

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Heparin manufactured by Baxter, an Illinois based company, contained a contaminant which produced adverse effects such as hypotension, nausea, and shortness of breath. After this detection, APP Pharmaceuticals, also from Illinois, became the major supplier of Heparin in the United States. APP hopes to lead a safety initiative that will essentially reduce medical errors in the future.

For the full story click here.

An elderly woman had been taking the Digitek heart drug in belief that it would protect her against future heart attacks. She then died while taking the drug just 5 days before the drug maker, Actavis Totowa, issued a Class I Digitek recall. The elderly woman’s caretaker noticed that after she started taking the medication she was becoming weak, having breathing problems and shortness of breath. The woman would go to the emergency room and stay overnight, but nobody ever told them what the problem was. The elderly woman would complain of nausea and began to suffer incontinence. She was also retaining fluid and getting weaker and weaker. The woman died of a heart attack on April 20th, 2008 and Actavis Totowa issued their recall on April 25, 2008. The company issued a nationwide recall for oral use because some tablets were double their normal strength, a manufacturing error, and a potentially life-threatening one. Now the woman’s family is looking into her medical records because they feel certain that Digitek had something to do with her untimely death. To read the full story, click here.

The most important topic on the United State’s Supreme Court docket for the term may be the case of a musician from Vermont who lost an arm after a medical injection that went horrible wrong. At stake in the suit against Wyeth Pharmaceuticals is whether drug manufacturers are immune from claims they have faced from customers in thousands of cases, that the product label, despite approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, failed to warn the buyer about all known side effects. The ruling should show the court’s stance on business regulation and consumer protection but also its views on the relationship between the states and the federal government. The federal government sets labeling standards. To read the full story, click here.

In November, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether a woman whose arm was amputated may keep more than $6 million from a jury award. The award was against a pharmaceutical company who failed to warn her adequately about the risks of one of its drugs. The woman went to a clinic suffering from a migraine and was given the drug Phenergan for nausea. When Phenergan is exposed to arterial blood it causes swift gangrene, which caused the woman to lose her arm. The Supreme Court will decide whether the doctrine of “pre-emption” can be applied which would bar injured consumers from suing in state court when the products that hurt them had met federal standards. Business groups have vigorously pursued pre-emption arguments in a hope to build a barrier against many kinds of injury suits. By leaving the case to the state, the jury is allowed to view the safety of the drug through the lens of a single patient who has already been catastrophically injured. To read the full story, click here.

Researches have found that out of 200 ayurvedic products bought in the United States about a fifth contained lead, mercury or arsenic, sometimes at dangerously high levels. The researchers, who bought these common medicines over the internet, said that the government should establish daily dose limits for toxic metals in dietary supplements and require manufacturers to have their products tested for compliance. Additionally, metals were found in some of the medications described as herbal only. There is a belief of some practitioners that when the preparations are made correctly, the metals cause no harm, but the study questioned the belief. To read the full story, click here.

Personal injury lawsuits have resulted after many consumers claim they have been injured due to the use of a medical product known as botox. The company that produces the medical product, Allergan, claims that the medical product is safe and that the product liability and medical liability lawsuits are unfounded. The FDA and the U.S. Department of Justice have been continuously monitoring the makers of the product which some consumers claim to be a product that is negligently manufactured. As of now product liability and pharmaceutical liability lawsuits continue. It is possible that some doctors may also come under scrutiny for prescribing the pharmaceutical product. To read more about this popular wrinkle-free quick fix that has caused many lawsuits to be filed click here.

A class action lawsuit has been launched for personal injuries and wrongful deaths sustained by many families against the makers of Tylenol 3, a product which contains codeine. Mothers who are breast feeding their children and taking the drug codeine may be at a previously unknown risk for placing their infants at harm. The product liability lawsuit claims that the pharmaceutical drug can cause personal injuries to infants including infant deaths because when taken by some woman the drug is naturally converted from codeine to morphine that is passed along to their infant via breast milk. Many doctors who recommend the drug after hearing these risks may be liable to their patients for medical malpractice. To read the full story click here.