Medication Errors For Hospitalized Children

Our Atlanta based medical malpractice lawyers frequently handle cases involving medication errors in hospitals. Some of these cases result in catastrophic damages.
A research study published in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics determined that medicine mix-ups, accidental overdoses and bad drug reactions harm roughly one out of 15 hospitalized children. The number is far higher than earlier estimates and bolsters concerns already heightened by well publicized cases such as the accidental drug overdose of actor Dennis Quaid’s newborn twins last November. Quaid’s twins got life-threatening heparin overdoses in a Los Angeles hospital.
Researchers found a rate of 11 drug-related harmful events for every 100 hospitalized children. That compares with an earlier estimate of two per 100 hospitalized children, based on traditional detection methods. The rate reflects the fact that some children experienced more than one drug treatment mistake. The new estimate translates to 7.3 percent of hospitalized children, or about 540,000 kids each year, a calculation based on government data.
Simply relying on hospital staffers to report such problems had found less than 4 percent of the problems detected in the new study.
A new monitoring method developed for the study is a list of 15 “triggers” on young patients’ charts that suggest possible drug-related harm. It includes use of specific antidotes for drug overdoses, suspicious side effects and certain lab tests.
The researchers said their findings highlight the need for “aggressive, evidence-based prevention strategies to decrease the substantial risk for medication-related harm to our pediatric inpatient population.”
Patient safety experts said the problem is most likely even bigger than the study suggests because it involved only a review of selected charts. Also, the study didn’t include general community hospitals, where most U.S. children requiring hospitalization are treated.