"You Can't Kill Dead."..Hospital Employee

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A patient at a Pittsburgh area hospital died after a doctor's orders were ignored and drug errors abounded, according to a state review.
The report on the PAM Specialty Hospital detailed a series of errors, many involving the failure to follow established safety procedures designed to ensure patients were getting the right medications.
In six of ten patient records reviewed by state surveyors errors or omissions in medication records were uncovered. In some cases the name of the person administering the medications was absent. In other cases, requiring two person verification, there was no verification.
In the case of the man who died at 3:07 am. on Aug 26 of last year, hospital records failed to disclose who initiated CPR or what drugs were administered.
When one hospital employee was asked about the missing details, he responded, "You can't kill dead."
The unnamed patient's records did show that he was "very lethargic..no longer responding with words.".. on the day he died.
His wife was informed of his changed condition, the records state, but his doctors apparently were not
When one of the employees was questioned about whether the patient was given lidocaine, he responded,"I don't remember using lidocaine..may have given a dose."
In response to the report PAM officials noted that the hospital and dozens of others had just been taken over by PAM and the new owners were still assessing the procedures needing improvement.
In its plan of correction PAM officials said employees were being re-educated on procedures to be followed when patients conditions changed. Audits were established to check patient records to ensure proper procedures were being followed.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Lancaster Patient Blanks Out after RX Error

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Seconds after being medicated a Lancaster General Hospital patient became unconscious but not before feeling "pain all over." His blood pressure plunged prompting immediate resuscitation efforts.
Rapid response was called due to the patient's altered mental state and hypotension. He was unresponsive to painful stimuli, the report adds.
After a few minutes the patient began to wake up and related that he could remember nothing except the incredible pain.
The Jan. 16 incident, as related in a state Health Department report, was triggered by an unnamed hospital employee who administered the drug, diazoxide, by injecting it into the patient's Peripherrally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC), speeding the drug directly into his circulatory system.
As the state report notes, diazoxide is a drug meant to be administered orally. In this patient's case that meant injecting the drug into his feeding tube.
The state surveyors, after examining hospital records, noted that the same hospital employee had previously administered the drug correctly.
"She knew it was oral, but somehow confused it on Jan. 16," another hospital employee told the surveyors.
"Based on review of facility documents, medical records and staff interview it was determined that medication orders were not administered in accordance with approved policies and procedures," the report states.
The state surveyors noted that the doctor's orders specified that the drug was to be administered orally.
In its plan of correction hospital officials said staff was re-educated on the importance of route administration. In addition adjustments to equipment were made to make it difficult to deliver drugs incorrectly.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com