Unsterilized saline solution mistakenly distributed to hospitals

On Behalf of | Jan 19, 2015 | Hospital Negligence

New Mexico natives may be surprised about the hospital malpractice event that recently occurred in various states. According to reports, around 40 people were treated with unsterilized bags of intravenous fluids. The incident happened when the bags were mistakenly delivered to seven different hospitals in various states from an unknown source. The bags were intended for medical training purposes only and were never supposed to be distributed to medical facilities.

Many of the individuals who were given the bags of fluid were hospitalized due to symptoms like fevers and chills. One patient also died, but The Food and Drug Administration is unsure if it was the IV that caused the fatality or not. The organization has also indicated that the products were distributed in late May but it is not known when the patients were given the IV’s. Unsterilized saline solution can critically affect a person’s bloodstream, because bacteria could quickly travel through the patient.

An official recall of the IV bags was initiated on Jan. 7 by the company from California that produces them. The company has said that they are unsure how the bags even ended up in hospitals because they only sell to distributors or directly to medical training institutions. The FDA stated that there has been a shortage of sterilized saline solution within the past year. To remedy the problem, they have allowed bags to be imported from European factories.

Since patients were hurt while already admitted to the hospital, it is probable that some of them might consider hiring a lawyer to assist in filing a hospital negligence claim. If an attorney in a similar case is successful in building a case against the hospital or other negligent parties, the patient may be entitled to receive a financial settlement that could help them continue their medical treatment and pay any related hospital bills.

Source: USA Today, “40 patients mistakenly given unsterile intravenous fluid”, Liz Szabo, Jan. 15, 2015

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