Hospitals: A potential source of patient harm

2017-03-24T18:45:00Z

Unfortunately, patients are sometimes subjected to harm in the very place they go to protect their health. Various patient dangers can arise at hospitals. A recent Huffington Post article went over some sources of harm that can come up at these facilities, including:

Surgical smoke.
Incorrect diagnoses.
Unnecessary tests.
Left-behind objects. Examples of objects that could get accidentally left behind in a patient during a surgery include clamps, retractors, needles, scissors and sponges.

]]> Many different problems at hospitals can lead to patients being exposed to hazardous situations during their stays. This includes communication problems, doctor incompetence, equipment problems, lack of appropriate safety policies, issues with a hospital's systems or technology and failure by a hospital to ensure its safety policies are followed. So, there are numerous ways a hospital could end up putting its patients at risk.

When harmed by any type of hospital negligence, a patient can have many significant concerns. For example, they may worry about their future care needs, their financial situation, their future employability and the impacts the injury will have on their everyday life.

In the midst of all these concerns, it could be easy for a hospital negligence victim to overlook legal matters. However, it can be very important to not ignore such issues. Just as hospital negligence can have a major effect on a person's life, so too can compensation issues on that person's future. Skilled medical malpractice attorneys can help victims of hospital negligence make sure important legal matters aren't falling through the cracks.

Cardiovascular drug errors at hospitals

2017-03-07T18:03:00Z

Hospitals use many medications in their patient care. Errors related to such drugs are a major patient safety risk. Examples of such mistakes include giving a patient the wrong dose, the wrong drug, or a harmful mix of medications.

Such errors can happen with any type of drug used at hospitals. However, some drugs are more commonly involved in medication errors than others. A recent study suggests that cardiovascular drugs may hold the top spot when it comes to hospital medication errors.

]]> The study looked at medication errors reported by nurses at five hospitals located in the southwest United States. The errors were reported between November 2011 and July 2014.

The study found that for all units of the hospitals except pediatrics, cardiovascular drugs were involved in more of the reported medication mistakes than any other drug class. This drug class was found to be involved in about a quarter of the reported errors overall and about 15 percent of the reported errors that caused harm to patients.

While there are some limitations to this study because of its relatively limited geographic scope, one wonders why cardiovascular drugs had such a high level of involvement in medication errors in the study. One further wonders how common errors involving these types of drugs are at Arizona hospitals.

Hospitals have a responsibility to act properly in all aspects of patient care, including the administration of medications. When hospitals and their staff fall short in this responsibility, patients can suffer greatly. When this happens in regards to a cardiovascular drug or any other medication, holding the hospital accountable for its actions can be of great importance. Skilled malpractice lawyers can assist victims of medication errors at hospitals with such efforts.

Source: Cardiovascular Business, "Medication errors more common with cardiovascular drugs than other drug classes," Tim Casey, Jan. 27, 2017

Hospital Negligence Archives | Scottsdale Personal Injury Blog

Hospitals: A potential source of patient harm

Cardiovascular drug errors at hospitals