Residents in New Mexico may be interested in learning how one teenage boy received a dangerous overdose from medical staff after he was admitted to the hospital. The incident occurred at a California children’s hospital on July 27, 2013. The patient was initially admitted to the hospital to undergo a routine colonoscopy for examining a polyp. At around midnight that night, the boy reportedly began experiencing numbness and tingling in his body.
The patient had a preexistent genetic condition, but this was not the reason he was in the hospital that day. He had received his evening medications at around 9 p.m., which included antibiotics and steroids. The attending medical staff was perplexed when the patient began exhibiting discomfort around midnight. Eventually the chief resident pediatrician discovered that one of the staff members administered 38.5 Septra antibiotic pills instead of just the one that he was usually prescribed.
According to one report, none of the medical staff on site or in the poison control center had ever experienced an overdose of that magnitude before, and there was no literature amiable for such an event. At approximately 5:30 a.m., the patient underwent a grand mal seizure and stopped breathing. These events occurred at a health care facility routinely recognized as one of the top 10 in the country. The pediatrics resident who administered the medication allegedly made an unintended error due to the way the hospital’s computer interpreted and evaluated the patient’s information.
Patients who suffer injuries caused by medical errors might benefit from consulting legal counsel. Lawyers may be prepared to investigate the incident and help identity any parties who are culpable for causing the injuries. Medical staff, overseeing physicians or the entire health care facility could be held liable for the resulting injuries. Plaintiffs are often entitled to receive restitution that compensates for corrective procedures, loss of income and other hardships attributed to the malpractice.
