Hospital administered three times the recommended dose of sedatives

The family of a woman who died after being given three times the recommended dose of a sedative has been awarded £65,000 in compensation.

Nicola Ames, 35, from Middle Mead, Rochford, died at Southend Hospital in December 2009.

She was admitted with acute pancreatitis and Miss Ames, who had a history of alcohol dependency and epilepsy, became agitated and was sedated.

By the following day, medical staff experienced difficulty in dealing with her agitation, confusion and lack of co-operation even though they had given her a significant dose of sedative Haloperidol.

Despite becoming hypoxic, where insufficient oxygen reaches body tissues, she was not transferred to the intensive care department where she would have been put on a ventilator to help her breath properly.

Despite the hypoxia worsening, and the absence of senior medics, staff continued to administer the sedative, eventually giving her more than three times the recommended dose. Miss Ames suffered a cardiac arrest and died shortly after midnight on December 18.

Lawyers, Attwaters Jameson Hill, acted for Miss Ames’ mother, who asked not to be named, against the hospital.

They claimed medical negligence and settled the case, securing damages for pain and suffering, funeral expenses and a dependency claim.

An investigation later established that over ten-and-a-half hours, Miss Ames was given 55mg of Haloperidol, compared to a recommended daily maximum dosage of 15mg.

Sarah Wealleans, of Attwaters Jameson Hill, said: “Hospital staff basically lost control of the situation and were unable to control Nicola’s alcohol withdrawal.

Rather than intubating her, which would have deemed the patient safe and provided the opportunity for effective treatment, they just kept administering sedatives in huge quantities.

This caused her death.”

Jacqueline Totterdell, the hospital’s chief executive said: “We once again offer our sincere condolences to Nicola’s family and recognise the circumstances leading up to and regarding her death in 2009 have made this a particularly difficult time for them.

“We recognise the standard of care we provided at that time was not of the standard we would expect and again we apologise for this.

“With regards the inquest, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage as the coroner’s findings will not be known until the case is reopened.”

This article is courtesy of the Echo.

Leeds hospital blunders revealed in report

Doctor wrongly removed a woman’s kidney after mistaking it for an ectopic pregnancy, a new report on serious incidents at Leeds hospitals shows.

Two patients also received adrenaline overdoses, there was an outbreak of MRSA among new mums and staff failed to respond when a patient deteriorated, according to the document.

It details 16 serious incidents recorded by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in May and June, with 11 of these pressure ulcers.

The report, by chief medical officer Dr Yvette Oade, says there has been an increase since 2013 in the number of serious incidents.

She said: “Whilst this reflects our reporting and learning culture, this is also attributable to a decision that we took to report all category 3 pressure ulcers as serious incidents from January 2014.”

In another incident, a woman was taken to theatre for removal of a suspected ectopic pregnancy, where a foetus implants outside the womb and cannot survive.

Before the procedure, the surgeon did not review a previous scan which showed one of her kidneys was in her pelvis.

“During the procedure the surgeon identified a structure thought to be the ectopic pregnancy, and removed this,” the report said.

However that was then identified as a pelvic kidney. The woman was not found to have an ectopic pregnancy.

After the error, staff were reminded of the guidelines for treating the condition and there was a meeting about the incident.

In two cases, patients were given too much adrenaline – one who was given ten times the prescribed dose then lost vision in one eye. The sight loss was later found to have occurred at the time of the overdose.

In another incident, a patient on the Critical Care Unit had been prescribed adrenaline at a rate of 5mls per hour following surgery, but it was mistakenly given at 50mls an hour. They needed further surgery but later recovered.

A further incident happened when a patient with diabetes began to deteriorate and was supposed to be monitored every two hours, but this did not happen. The next morning they could not be woken and were treated, but there were delays.

The patient continued to deteriorate due to their underlying illness and died the next morning. A post mortem confirming the cause of death is awaited.

There was also an outbreak of MRSA infection of the skin of mothers who had been discharged from the post-natal ward at LGI. Apologies were given to those affected.

In all cases, the incidents were investigated and moves made to prevent them recurring.

This article is courtesy of the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Blackburn widower to sue hospital for ‘negligence’ after wife’s death

 A widower is to sue Royal Blackburn Hospital following the death of his wife.

Maureen McDonald waited hours to see a hospital doctor after she fell ill during chemotherapy treatment.

Her husband Alan said: “I’m suing the hospital for medical negligence. Cancer patients can’t go through this.”

He said that she had needed antibioltics urgently.

“They have a one hour window to survive. It’s the pits.”

Mrs McDonald’s death prompted a serious untoward incident review at Royal Blackburn Hospital after her husband Alan raised concerns about her care.

The report produced by the hospital trust found: 

• Two nurses had failed to recognise how ill she was.
• The Medical Assessment Unit, which had been expecting her, was not told she had been taken to the A&E department instead.
• She only saw a doctor after a delay of almost three hours when Mr McDonald called the chemotherapy unit himself.
• She was given penicillin when she was allergic to the drug.

The trust which runs the hospital said a number of actions had been implemented following the review to recognise similar patients.

Mr McDonald said he was speaking out after two other cancer patients had also suffered from miscommunication problems when taken for treatment at the hospital.

Mrs McDonald, 59, of Honeyhole, Blackburn, had been diagnosed with brain and lung cancer last December.

Just weeks later, after starting chemotherapy, she complained of sickness and chest pain and an ambulance was booked to take her to the Medical Assessment Unit at the hospital.

The report said when paramedics arrived they decided her symptoms were so serious she should be taken to A&E.

However staff in the emergency department failed to make cancer specialists at the hospital aware that Mrs McDonald had been admitted, and because the seriousness of her condition had not been recognised, there was a delay in prescribing her antibiotics, the report added.

Mr McDonald said: “They kept her in A&E for hours, in that time a senior staff nurse missed vital signs.

“She never received antibiotics or pain relief.

“I had to contact the cancer unit myself. The cancer nurse wanted to know why she was in A&E, not the medical assessment unit.

“The cancer specialist came rushing down and got her straight into resus.”

The report said that when the oncologist came down to A&E, the consultant in the emergency department did not have Mrs McDonald’s notes available, but the two consultants agreed that antibiotics should be prescribed.

Mrs McDonald was given Tazocin, but she had a penicillin allergy, and doctors did not check whether the drug would be suitable before administering it, the report said.

Mr McDonald said: “She had an allergy wristband on, but they never asked her what she was allergic to.”

Mrs McDonald was later transferred to the Medical Assessment Unit, but she passed away in the early hours of the following morning.

The report into her death has made several recommendations, including that feedback should be given to the triage nurse regarding the recognition of seriously unwell patients, and nurses should be made aware of the importance of early treatment.

It said: “It is unlikely that even if Mrs M had received antibiotics within one hour of her attendance at the emergency department that she would have survived however it is very difficult to know for sure.”

Mr McDonald, who is now taking legal action against the Trust, said he was very concerned that two other patients had died under similar circumstances since his wife’s death.

Blackburn Coroner’s Court has previously heard how retired milkman Roy Wildman, who lived in Lime Street, Nelson, died in May after it took two days for staff in A&E to inform cancer doctors of his arrival when it should have been done immediately.

Another inquest heard that Shirley Banks, 67, who lived in Constable Avenue, Burnley died within a few days of Mrs McDonald.

She had been diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus and was undergoing chemotherapy when she was taken to hospital as an emergency admission. She died on New Year’s Eve.

Blackburn coroner Michael Singleton said he would be making a report to East Lancashire NHS Hospitals Trust relating to the triage of patients suffering from cancer, as he believed there remained a risk of further fatalities following an inquest into Mrs Banks’s death.

Mr McDonald said: “I was told this would never, ever happen again, because procedures are now in place.”

Chris Pearson, Chief Nurse at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We are very sorry about Mr McDonald’s loss and our sympathies remain with him.

“We have met with Mr McDonald regarding the care his wife received at the Trust and the issues that he has raised with us are not the same as those he has indicated.

“A number of actions have and are being implemented to ensure the issues Mr McDonald raised with us do not happen again - this includes education and change of procedures within the Emergency Department so patients like Mrs McDonald are recognised and highlighted early for IV antibiotic treatment.”

This article is courtesy of the Lancashire Telegraph.

Hospital apologises for failings after schoolboy died on his 13th birthday

Hospital bosses have apologised for their care of a talented young footballer who died of meningitis on his 13th birthday.

Thomas Smith, from Hednesford, near Cannock, was nicknamed Ronnie by friends who compared his soccer skills to those of Cristiano Ronaldo.

But he fell ill with meningitis during a family holiday to Wales – and died on May 29 last year after being given paracetemol instead of antibiotics.

A coroner yesterday condemned Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil over the error as the teenager’s inquest ended.

Christopher Woolley said: “The failure to administer antibiotics amounts to a gross failure of care.

“Antibiotics should have been given without delay. Where meningitis is suspected it’s essential antibiotics are given immediately. The need for basic medical attention in this form was obvious. The risk of giving unnecessary medication was outweighed by the risk of Thomas having bacterial meningitis.”

Mr Woolley said he was also concerned about “further deaths” at Prince Charles Hospital and ordered a report.

But he said it was not a case of “neglect” and, even if Thomas had been given antibiotics, he would probably have still died.

Mr Woolley recorded a conclusion of death by natural causes.

The inquest earlier heard Thomas complained of six tell-tale signs of meningitis, including a headache and a stiff neck.

But doctors failed to diagnose the illness and did not give him antibiotics for more than four hours.

He was seen by Dr Kwong-Tou Yip and consultant paediatrician Dr Ezzat Afifi, who both gave him paracetomal.

The inquest heard both Dr Yip and Dr Afifi had “failed in their duty of care” for Thomas.

After the hearing at Cardiff Coroner’s Court, Cwm Taf University Health Board – which runs the hospital – said it accepted it had failed the teenager.

Chief executive Allison Williams said: “I would like to extend my sincere apologies to the parents of Thomas George Smith for the loss of their son. This is an extremely sad case and we deeply regret there were failings in the care Thomas received at Prince Charles Hospital.

“As noted during the inquest, the Health Board undertook an investigation which identified lessons learned and recommendations to ensure this will never happen again. A number of changes have already been made to address the failings identified.

“Following the conclusion of the inquest, the Health Board will now consider the coroner’s findings and continue to implement the changes required to address any failings in service.”

This article is courtesy of the Birmingham Mail.

Health care 101: Dealing with a medical error

Ms. A was a sweet older lady with a bad heart who was transferred all the way from Montana in order to get expedited workup for cardiac (heart-related) surgery.

Her story of her symptoms and disease course was the story told by hundreds of patients seen at any given hospital every year. It started with a few weeks of chest discomfort while walking, followed by a day of chest pain, nausea, vomiting and dizziness prompting an urgent 911 call.

Where she thought her symptoms were attributable to bad heartburn, the studies at her local hospital demonstrated otherwise: She was found to have severe disease in all of the major oxygen-carrying vessels that supplies her heart and was at a high risk for a fatal heart attack without surgical intervention.

While caring for Ms. A overnight, I made the incorrect decision to administer a cardiac medication to treat her disease that is known to increase the risk of bleeding during surgery. Given her need for the operation, the benefit of providing this medication to safely temporize her heart condition in the short term did not outweigh the risk of delaying the intervention that she ultimately needed. Despite the standard of care regarding this clinical scenario, I made the wrong call.

The Background

Making a medical error is the most feared consequence of practicing medicine. From misreading lab values to doing surgery on the wrong site, any slip in clinical judgment can potentially cause serious injury or even death. A landmark study conducted by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) demonstrated that medical errors in the U.S resulted around 75,000 unnecessary deaths and more than one million excess injuries each year.[1] Despite this data, it is remarkable that medical errors are made every day and usually result in little to no negative patient outcomes.

Whether one is just starting out as a physician in medical training or is a leader in their respective field, all medical providers will make mistakes during their careers. Given the fact that this is an unavoidable facet to making thousands of clinical decisions each year, how does one appropriately deal with such errors?

Unfortunately, many practitioners choose not to deal with medical mistakes at all. In a study surveying the prevalence of non-disclosed medical errors, Taylor et al. found that more than 30 percent of physicians and nurses underreported almost half of medical decisions that they perceived as clinical oversights.[2] Not only is this blaringly unethical, but also limits the medical community from creating stopgaps to avoid such errors in the future.

The Solution

There are several steps to appropriately dealing with a medical error that are relatively straightforward:

1. Let the patient and family know.

Many health care providers fear that notifying patients of an error will decrease rapport and put them at a higher risk for receiving malpractice lawsuits. Interestingly, a report by Boothman et al. from the University of Michigan demonstrates otherwise. The more that patients and their families are notified of serious mistakes, the less they are inclined to reactively sue.

Regardless of the tangible consequence of making a medical error, practitioners have the ethical duty to let their patients know of any significant clinical oversights.

2. Notify the rest of the care team.

Alerting the rest of a patient's care team of a medical error is not easy. It essentially demonstrates one's fallibility to his or her colleagues and may result in considerable changes to the predetermined patient-care plan. Despite this, these errors must be relayed to the rest of the care team in order to better handle any immediate significant negative patient outcomes and reduce further mismanagement from occurring.

3. Document the error and report it to the hospital-safety committee.

In order to avoid further complications to a patient's care, it is essential that the medical error be appropriately documented and reported. By doing so, it avoids further complications by independent health care providers who also assume care of the patient and can globally increase patient well-being by improving hospital-wide safety measures.

The Take-Home Point
Committing and dealing with a medical error is one of the more humbling experiences in the field of medicine.

Given the fact that making clinical errors in judgment is an inevitable aspect to clinical practice, it is imperative that practitioners of all levels of training be aware and comfortable in appropriately handling such events.

* The patient's demographic information in this article was changed to protect identity and assure anonymity.

References:

1. Kohn L T, Corrigan J M, Donaldson MS (Institute of Medicine) To err is human: building a safer health system. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2000.

2. Taylor JA, Brownstein D, Christakis DA, et al. Use of incident reports by physicians and nurses to document medical errors in pediatric patients. Pediatrics. 2004 Sep;114(3):729-35.

3. Boothman RC, Blackwell AC, Campbell DA, et al. A better approach to medical malpractice claims? The University of Michigan experience. J Health Life Sci Law. 2009 Jan;2(2):125-59.

This article is courtesy from the Huffington Post.

Extreme 'never event' NHS blunders such as operating on the wrong body part or giving lethal doses of painkillers double in a year

The number of hospital mistakes deemed so serious they should never have happened has almost doubled in a single year.
There were 299 ‘never’ events in 2012/13, up from 163 in 2011/12, according to the Department of Health’s own figures.
Among 25 types of  incidents are surgical instruments left in the body, operations on the wrong body part and fatal errors such as feeding tubes inserted into the lungs and patients given lethal doses of painkillers.

A list of these errors, by hospital, will be published so patients can see where the highest number occur.
NHS England – the organisation in charge of the health service – will release the data four times a year starting from next month.

There are 25 different types of ‘never events’ including surgery on the wrong body part, patients being given lethal doses of painkillers and mothers dying during caesareans.
Others include feeding tubes inserted into the lungs rather than the stomach and staff muddling up patients giving them the wrong treatment or operation.
But medical negligence lawyers believe that thousands of these mistakes occur each year but staff often try and cover them up in case patients try to sue.

NHS England could not explain why the numbers had increased so starkly and said another organisation had been responsible for collecting them in the past.
Mike Durkin, the body’s director of patient safety said: ‘NHS England intends to begin publishing more detailed data on never events on a more regular basis very soon, providing more frequent information on the numbers and kinds of never events that occur in the NHS as part of its wider commitment to transparency but also to stimulate more learning and preventative action in the NHS.
‘Every single never event is one too many and, as Don Berwick (the Government’s tsar on preventing harm) made clear in his recent report, we need to openly and publicly report and address safety problems, not so that people can lay blame inappropriately, but so that we can fully understand and therefore learn more from the safety problems that the NHS, like all healthcare systems, faces.’
One grieving relative described how nurses had mistakenly inserted a feeding tube into her mother’s lungs instead of her stomach.
Speaking anonymously, the victim said staff had also failed to carry out an x-ray to check it was in the right place.

In a recent interview with the BBC she said: ‘You feel guilty because when she [was] talking to us she kept saying she wanted to come out, and we kept saying, ‘You can’t come out, mum, until you get better,’
‘You feel angry after, because you think someone’s killed your mum. No, they probably didn’t do it on purpose but that’s how it feels. You feel that somebody’s killed her.’
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: ‘These worrying figures reveal an NHS cutting too many corners and sailing dangerously close to the wind.
‘Ministers have been repeatedly warned that too many hospitals in England do not have enough staff to provide care. Their failure to act has left wards under-staffed and nurses over-stretched. That explains why so many nurses say they have considered resigning.
‘The warning signs of an NHS under intense pressure are growing day by day and David Cameron cannot continue to ignore them. He must act to halt the job losses and ensure all hospitals in England have enough staff on the wards to provide safe care.’

This article is courtesy from the Daily Mail.

Narcoleptic schoolgirl who falls asleep 30 times a day because of swine flu vaccine hopes to be given £120,000 payout

A Scottish schoolgirl who developed narcolepsy after having the swine flu vaccine is hoping to receive a £120,000 compensation payout from the government.Chloe Glasson, 14, from Fife falls asleep without warning between 25 and 30 times a day.Chloe had the Pandemrix jab in November 2009 and started suffering the symptoms of narcolepsy just four months later.

Campaigners believe she is one of dozens of youngsters across the UK who developed the condition after having the vaccine. The government recently admitted for the first time that the injections can trigger narcolepsy in some cases. It is believed ministers will announce on Friday that tests are to begin on sufferers to see if they qualify for compensation.

Chloe's case is so severe that her family, from Kirkcaldy, are convinced the government will be forced to pay compensation. Chloe said: ‘What hurts the most is when people see me in public and I'm starting to fall asleep and they look at me as if I'm drunk or have been taking drugs. ‘I am no different to anyone else in that I have still got feelings and I can see the way they are looking at me.

‘I have still got hopes and dreams. I want to be a drama teacher when I'm older but I've really just got to take every day as it comes.’

Chloe says she also suffers mood swings and disturbing dreams as a result of her condition. She said: ‘The emotions I feel are so extreme, I can go from being really happy and chatty to really annoyed to really upset in a few seconds and all it takes is one little thing to set it off. ‘The dreams I have when I'm asleep are really vivid, I can feel the pain in the dream and sometimes it even feels like someone is touching me, it's really terrifying.’

Chloe has already to drop two subjects at school because she cannot keep up with the workload. She said: ‘When I go into auto pilot behaviour I don't really remember anything that happens, and luckily I've never been really hurt.’

Chloe, who was officially diagnosed with narcolepsy and catalepsy in December last year, added: ‘It can happen at any time. ‘Like standing up or sitting down. I've really been lucky that I've not hurt myself falling asleep while standing up and I ask myself everyday how I've managed. ‘At school I'll be sitting at my desk and this wave of tiredness takes over. Then you're eyes start to roll and droop and that's when you know what's about to happen. You just go out.

‘It’s like a rollercoaster of emotions sometimes and at first it was really embarrassing. ‘No one really got what was going on so they would kind of laugh about it. Even the teachers joined in at first. I've been reduced to tears so many times.’ Chloe’s mother, Rebecca, said: ‘It's just frustrating that it's taken them this long to admit there is a link. ‘Almost everyone involved knew that was the case and we're just trying to prove it. You just start to blame yourself.’

She added: ‘Chloe had to get the vaccine because she is asthmatic but now she's left with this condition for the rest of her life.

‘The scariest moment so far was when Chloe went missing for over two hours. She was meant to meet my mum in town but went into an automatic behaviour state and disappeared. ‘We were all frantic with worry and I had to call the police.’ Ms Glasson said the falling asleep was not even the biggest problem.

Chloe now also suffers from the debilitating muscle condition cataplexy.

Ms Glasson said: ‘Her cataplexy means she can collapse at any time and there is so many day to day things that we take for granted that she can't do.

‘No bubble bath, no swimming and she can't even use public transport on her own. She fell asleep on a bus once and ended up miles away.

‘For us it’s not just about the compensation, it’s about making Chloe's life better. We want people to realise what she's dealing with and to help make her feel more accepted. ‘Chloe is a really, really bright kid and she loves drama and art but it’s really unfair that she has had to drop two subjects. ‘It's been life changing for Chloe and the rest of the family.’

The UK Government recently admitted that the Pandemrix jab could be to blame in certain cases of narcolepsy. Families will get £120,000 through the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme if they can prove 'severe' disability.

It is thought that for every 55,000 children who were given the injection, one has developed narcolepsy. Researchers, who published their findings in the British Medical Journal, studied 75 children with narcolepsy and found that 11 of these had received the vaccine before their symptoms began. Since 2011 it has not been given to people under the age of 20 because of the risk of narcolepsy. The UK Health Protection Agency has found that giving the jab to young children increases their chance of developing narcolepsy by 14 times.

Narcolepsy affects the brain's ability to regulate the normal sleep-wake cycle, causing excessive sleepiness throughout the day.

The long term neurological condition can cause sleep attacks, daytime sleepiness and, in some cases, cataplexy. There is no cure for narcolepsy but medication is available to help manage the symptoms, which cause side effects such as nausea, hallucinations and headaches. A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed they had written to four families previously rejected for compensation inviting them to reapply. Saying individual cases could not be discussed, he added: ‘The Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme provides support in the very rare cases where someone becomes severely disabled as a result of a vaccination. ‘Decisions on vaccine damage payments claims take into account the individual circumstances of each case and the latest available accepted medical evidence.

‘DWP has looked at some vaccine damage payments cases again in light of new information regarding swine flu and narcolepsy provided by the Department for Health. ‘Once this new information was taken into account it was decided, on balance of probability, in some cases that causation was proved.’

This article is courtesy from the Daily Mail.

Extreme 'never event' NHS blunders such as operating on the wrong body part or giving lethal doses of painkillers double in a year

The number of hospital mistakes deemed so serious they should never have happened has almost doubled in a single year.

There were 299 ‘never’ events in 2012/13, up from 163 in 2011/12, according to the Department of Health’s own figures.

Among 25 types of  incidents are surgical instruments left in the body, operations on the wrong body part and fatal errors such as feeding tubes inserted into the lungs and patients given lethal doses of painkillers.

A list of these errors, by hospital, will be published so patients can see where the highest number occur.

NHS England – the organisation in charge of the health service – will release the data four times a year starting from next month.

There are 25 different types of ‘never events’ including surgery on the wrong body part, patients being given lethal doses of painkillers and mothers dying during caesareans.

Others include feeding tubes inserted into the lungs rather than the stomach and staff muddling up patients giving them the wrong treatment or operation.

But medical negligence lawyers believe that thousands of these mistakes occur each year but staff often try and cover them up in case patients try to sue.

NHS England could not explain why the numbers had increased so starkly and said another organisation had been responsible for collecting them in the past.

Mike Durkin, the body’s director of patient safety said: ‘NHS England intends to begin publishing more detailed data on never events on a more regular basis very soon, providing more frequent information on the numbers and kinds of never events that occur in the NHS as part of its wider commitment to transparency but also to stimulate more learning and preventative action in the NHS.

‘Every single never event is one too many and, as Don Berwick (the Government’s tsar on preventing harm) made clear in his recent report, we need to openly and publicly report and address safety problems, not so that people can lay blame inappropriately, but so that we can fully understand and therefore learn more from the safety problems that the NHS, like all healthcare systems, faces.’

One grieving relative described how nurses had mistakenly inserted a feeding tube into her mother’s lungs instead of her stomach.

Speaking anonymously, the victim said staff had also failed to carry out an x-ray to check it was in the right place.

In a recent interview with the BBC she said: ‘You feel guilty because when she [was] talking to us she kept saying she wanted to come out, and we kept saying, ‘You can’t come out, mum, until you get better,’

‘You feel angry after, because you think someone’s killed your mum. No, they probably didn’t do it on purpose but that’s how it feels. You feel that somebody’s killed her.’

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: ‘These worrying figures reveal an NHS cutting too many corners and sailing dangerously close to the wind.

‘Ministers have been repeatedly warned that too many hospitals in England do not have enough staff to provide care. Their failure to act has left wards under-staffed and nurses over-stretched. That explains why so many nurses say they have considered resigning.

‘The warning signs of an NHS under intense pressure are growing day by day and David Cameron cannot continue to ignore them. He must act to halt the job losses and ensure all hospitals in England have enough staff on the wards to provide safe care.’

This article is courtesy of the Daily Mail.

Exhausted relief doctor gave patient fatal dose

A foreign doctor on his first shift providing out-of-hours cover for GPs killed a patient by giving him 10 times the normal recommended maximum dose of a pain-killing drug, the Guardian can reveal.

The NHS watchdog is launching an investigation after a German doctor who flew into the UK the day before the incident admitted he was "too tired" to concentrate when he administered the drug.

The case, which was subject to a police inquiry into possible manslaughter, raises fundamental questions for the NHS over GP cover, regulation of doctors and drug safety measures.

The doctor, Daniel Ubani, accidentally killed 70-year old David Gray in Cambridgeshire in February 2008, but details have not previously been made public.

The watchdog Care Quality Commission will announce the scope of its inquiries soon, but its head of investigations and enforcement, Christine Braithwaite, said: "This is a deeply disturbing case and one that must be thoroughly looked into. We have to ensure any lessons are learned."

She added that the body was "aware of a number of concerns in relation to out-of-hours care" provided by Take Care Now (TCN), a company which has four contracts for such NHS services in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney, and Worcester.

The case has also sparked a row over how Germany responded to a UK request to extradite the doctor. Last month Ubani was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence there for the UK incident and fined €5,000 (£4,450) for causing death by negligence. He is continuing to practise in Witten, Germany, although he has been suspended from working in the UK by the General Medical Council's interim orders panel.

The Crown Prosecution Service is seeking a meeting with Eurojust, which mediates between EU prosecuting bodies, and the Department of Health told the Guardian: "It is disappointing that this doctor, although now convicted of an offence, was not held to account in this country."

Ubani, in a letter of apology to Gray's family written last July, said the "fatal mistake" derived from a confusion between drugs, one of which was not used by on-call services in Germany, and the "tremendous stress" he had been under, having only had about three hours rest before he started his shift.

David Gray's partner, Lynda Bubb, said: "I want no one else to go through what we have been through. They have to work out a way this does not happen again." The family is taking civil legal action against Ubani, Cambridgeshire NHS, which oversees primary care in the county, and TCN.

Gray's son Stuart, a GP, said Ubani had not even seemed to realise that the dose of the drug he used, diamorphine, was lethal. The family's lawyer, Inez Brown, said it was "a very serious and tragic case".

Peter Walsh, chief executive of the charity Action against Medical Accidents, said: "What is worrying is this was a disaster waiting to happen and not enough is being done to ensure nothing like this happens again. There should be a wholesale review of out-of-hours provision and the way it is regulated. The response of the NHS so far is totally inadequate."

More than 100 foreign doctors flew into the UK to cover out-of-hours GP shifts, according to figures for 2007.

The tragedy in the fen village of Manea happened after Bubb asked Suffolk Doctors On Call, a company which supplies doctors for TCN, to visit the couple's home where David Gray, who suffered from kidney stones and renal colic, was in severe pain. Later that afternoon Ubani arrived and administered 100mg of diamorphine, a potent painkiller. Within hours the patient was dead, but it was the following day before the severity of the incident was clear to health managers and Ubani was suspended from his second shift.

Cambridgeshire police launched an investigation and in April 2008 the Crown Prosecution Service formally requested assistance in obtaining evidence from the German authorities. By November, the CPS decided there was sufficient evidence to charge Ubani with manslaughter.

In February this year, a warrant for his arrest was issued by magistrates and on 12 March the CPS issued a European arrest warrant. But 12 days later, it was told legal proceedings against Ubani were underway in Germany. These were "finalised" on 15 April.

Throughout the period, NHS authorities tried to establish what went wrong. In a letter to Stuart Gray in April last year, David Johnston, of TCN, said Ubani had given David Gray 100mg of diamorphine and 4mg of Buscopan. The doctor was not "and never has been an employee of TCN. He was employed on a self-employed sessional basis to provide out-of-hours cover". He had been recruited from the Cimarron Locum Agency.

Chris Banks, the chief executive of NHS Cambridgeshire, said Ubani "failed Mr Gray and his family". He added: "We are concerned that Mr Gray's family may not feel justice has been done."

TCN's chief executive, David Cocks, said: "Our response has been focused on doing everything we can to ensure such a tragedy could never happen again."

Cimarron's director, Tom Stewart, said: "We have robust processes in place to ensure all important checks are undertaken before deploying a GP and I can confirm all these checks were undertaken for Dr Ubani."

Ubani, contacted by the Guardian last week, said: "Please understand this could be very damaging for my name and reputation. It is not appropriate for you to put an extravagant array of questions to me about this very unfortunate matter."

A spokesman for the state prosecutors' office in Bochum, near Witten, confirmed Ubani had been given his sentence in absentia, after admitting the charge of causing death by negligence in written correspondence.

Cambridgeshire constabulary said it was disappointed any prosecution "was not allowed to reach its natural conclusion in this country".

This article is courtesy of the Guardian.

Ontario hospitals divulge 36 incidents last year where medication mistakes led to harm or death

Ontario hospitals divulged 36 incidents last year where medication-related mistakes led to patients suffering severe harm or even death, according to a new report that offers a rare snapshot of health-care error — and the dire consequences it can have for patients.

They included cases of patients getting huge overdoses of powerful narcotic painkillers, receiving the wrong drug or being administered a dangerous extra dose, the report reveals.

Ten patients died because of the mistakes, while 26 suffered harm that required life-saving intervention to fix, shortened life or caused major disability.

The report summarizes the first year of results since the Ontario government ordered hospitals to report “critical incidents” — the most serious of medical errors — involving drugs or intravenous (IV) fluids.

Problems programming IV pumps, communication breakdowns, frequent distractions and mix-ups between drug products were among the causes cited for the mishaps.

“It’s important that this information be collected … because that’s the only way we can get a handle on the big threats to the system,” said Ross Baker, a University of Toronto health-policy professor and one of Canada’s leading experts on “adverse events.”

“We continue to find new ways in which the system has potential lapses, or potential ways it can fail, which just raises the ongoing challenge to eliminating these kinds of events.”

Only hospitals in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec have similar mandates to report critical incidents, said Jessica Ma, an analyst with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), which produced the new Ontario report for the provincial government.

And it appears that Manitoba is the only other province to publicly release results, mostly in the form of case studies.

Mr. Baker co-authored a landmark 2004 study that estimated preventable adverse events related to surgery, drugs and other hospital treatment caused between 9,200 and 24,000 deaths a year. Patient safety has become a major preoccupation of health care since then, but detailed public reporting of specific events is still relatively uncommon.

The ISMP report, issued earlier this year, summarizes information submitted by hospitals to the Canadian Institute for Health Information between October 2011 and December 2012.

It found that opiods — drugs like hydromorphone, oxycodone and fentanyl — accounted for more than a quarter of the incidents, while blood thinners such as heparin were named in 13% of cases. Adrenaline-like drugs and anesthetics were among six other classes of medication that each accounted for about 7% of incidents.

Giving patients drugs at the wrong rate, administering the incorrect medication or dispensing an erroneous number of doses were among the major reasons blamed for errors.

A detailed bulletin issued earlier this year by ISMP describes the case of a patient who was supposed to receive .2 to .4 milligrams of hydromorphone every hour, as needed for pain. By mistake, someone gave a 4 mg dose — a “10-fold error” — and the person was found dead soon afterward. Overdoses of such opioids can cause breathing to slow to a halt, triggering cardiac arrest.

The ready availability of high-concentration hydromorphone was contrary to expert recommendations that doses off 2 mg or more be kept in the hospital pharmacy, not on patient floors, ISMP said.

The ready availability of high-concentration hydromorphone was contrary to expert recommendations that doses off 2 mg or more be kept in the hospital pharmacy, not on patient floors, ISMP said

The summary report also notes ongoing mix-ups between medications whose names or packaging are similar, with such confusion leading to eight incidents, four of them fatal. The “look-alike, sound-alike” issue has long been identified as a danger, with Health Canada now screening new drugs to try to ensure their names and labeling are not too similar to other products.

Hospitals have actually made strides to deal with drug-related and other error, Mr. Baker said.

But the types of risky medications highlighted in the Ontario report — including opioid painkillers and blood thinners — are increasingly now being dispensed in a wider array of settings, including nursing homes and home care, where the same safeguards may not have been implemented, he noted.

Only hospitals, though, are now required to report critical events.

Both Mr. Baker and Ms. Ma said patients should welcome such reports, stressing they are meant to expose problems, not level blame.

“Effective reporting is essential to learning,” said Ms. Ma.

This article is courtesy of the National Post.

Elderly man died from nosebleeds after taking blood thinning medication - inquest told

AN elderly man who took blood thinning medication after suffering heart problems and strokes died after a severe nosebleed could not be stopped, an inquest was told.

Kenneth Hunt, 89, of Moat Bank, Winshill, had been taking the anti-coagulant warfarin after suffering heart problems and minor strokes.

In evidence read out at the inquest at Burton Town Hall, Mr Hunt’s son, Peter, said his father had also worked in the tile manufacturing industry where he had come into contact with asbestos.

He said: “He had a number of minor strokes and more recently he experienced breathing problems and heart difficulties.

“His prognosis was poor and his condition was unlikely to improve so the decision was made to bring him home to be cared for his family.”

Dr David Dickinson, Mr Hunt’s GP, said in evidence read out to the inquest, that he diagnosed Mr Hunt with signs of cardiac failure.

Mr Hunt was admitted to Queen’s Hospital, Burton, on January 29 after his family were unable to stem a further nosebleed. His condition deteriorated and he died the same day.

Dr Peter Acland, who carried out the post-mortem examination on Mr Hunt, said he found pleural plaques, which are associated with asbestos exposure, as well as a completely blocked artery.

“My information is that he came in with a nosebleed that was very difficult to stop. But he could have died at any time,” Dr Acland said.

“Unfortunately he seems to have had a large one and that tipped the balance with his heart problems.”

Recording a narrative verdict, deputy South Staffordshire coroner Margaret Jones, said: “He had nose bleeds and they were made worse by the treatment.

“He could not manage without that treatment but towards the end of his life he was very frail and suffered from nose bleeds.

“On the balance of probabilities the warfarin treatment did make a contribution to his death.”

This article is courtesy of the Burton Mail.

How you can end up taking the wrong medication

Medical negligence, also sometimes referred to as clinical negligence, is something that we are hearing about more and more. Medical professionals have a pretty tough job and a great deal of responsibility on their shoulders. Unfortunately for them, part of that responsibility includes not making any mistakes that lead to further injury and end up doing their patients more harm than good. Some examples of medical negligence that doctors need to be careful to avoid, so their patients don’t end up taking the wrong medication, include prescribing the wrong medication, wrong doses of medications and misdiagnosis.  All of these will end up with an individual taking a medicine that is not right for his or her condition or the wrong dose of medicine, which could interfere with other medications and health conditions or cause a completely new injury or illness.

Wrong Medication

Prescribing errors as the name suggests is when something goes wrong regarding the prescription. This usually means that one of two things happened. Either the prescription was inappropriate or the prescription didn’t effectively communicate information. The former means basically that whilst the diagnosis was correct the individual who wrote the prescription didn’t take into account additional factors concerning the patient, such as their allergies or potential interaction with other drugs. The latter refers to a prescription with notes that are ambiguous or illegible handwriting.

Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis will inevitably lead to incorrect treatment and therefore the wrong medication, but this will often fall under the medical negligence category of misdiagnosis.

The next step

If you have been prescribed and therefore taken the wrong medication, you could be entitled to some form of compensation. For more information find a reputable firm of personal injury solicitors and seek their advice regarding how to move forward and the most effective way to file your claim for compensation.

Survey: One in three diabetics given wrong medication

A new report suggests that one in every three diabetic patients in England and Wales are given the wrong medication whilst in hospital.

A third of patients experienced a "medication error" during the five-day National Diabetes Inpatient Audit.

Conducted last September, the audit found that 61 patients developed a life-threatening but preventable complication due to poor care.

Diabetes UK said it was "appalling" that any patients should develop diabetic ketoacidosis during a hospital stay.

The National Diabetes Inpatient Audit, which examined data from 13,400 patients, found that a fifth of patients suffered from hypoglycaemia while in hospital.

Bridget Turner, director of policy and care improvement at Diabetes UK, said that "even a single" case of ketoacidosis developing in hospital is "unacceptable" as it suggests insulin "has been withheld from that person for some time".
 
The fact that this is regularly happening raises serious questions about the ability of hospitals to provide even the most basic level of diabetes care.

In every aspect of hospital diabetes care that this report shines a light on, the picture that emerges is profoundly disturbing.

Medication errors are being made with alarming regularity, large numbers of people are not getting foot checks that we know can help prevent amputation, while one in 10 people's blood glucose level is dropping dangerously low during their hospital stay.
 
Put together, this adds up to a situation where in too many cases hospitals are doing people with diabetes more harm than good.
 
The lead clinician for the National Diabetes Inpatient Audit, Dr Gerry Rayman said the purpose of the audit is to "drive improvements in care for inpatients with diabetes". He added:

I am pleased to see there has been some progress on problems highlighted in previous years' reports, for instance around insulin prescribing.

But staffing levels remain low, and it is of grave concern that some patients are developing DKA, which is a potentially life-threatening complication in hospital. This is due to their needs being neglected and should simply never happen.

This article is courtesy of itv news.

Common painkillers 'pose heart risk'

Two common painkillers, ibuprofen and diclofenac, can slightly increase the risk of heart problems if taken in high doses for a long time, data suggests.

People with severe arthritis often take the drugs, which also calm inflammation, to go about daily life.

The researchers said some patients would deem the risk acceptable, but they should be given the choice.

A study, published in the Lancet, showed the drugs posed even greater risks for smokers and the overweight.

The risks have been reported before, but a team of researchers at the University of Oxford analysed the issue in unprecedented detail in order to help patients make an informed choice.

The group investigated more than 353,000 patient records from 639 separate clinical trials to assess the impact of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

They looked at high-dose prescriptions levels, rather than over-the-counter pain relief, of 150mg diclofenac or 2,400mg ibuprofen each day.

They showed that for every 1,000 people taking the drugs there would be three additional heart attacks, four more cases of heart failure and one death as well cases of stomach bleeding - every year as a result of taking the drugs.

So the number of heart attacks would increase from eight per 1,000 people per year normally, to 11 per 1,000 people per year with the drugs.

"Three per thousand per year sounds like it is quite a low risk, but the judgement has to be made by patients," said lead researcher Prof Colin Baigent.
He added: "So if you're a patient and you go and sit in front of your doctor and discuss it, you are the one who should be making the judgement about whether three per thousand per year is worth it to allow you, potentially, to go about your daily life."

He said this should not concern people taking a short course of these drugs, for example for headaches.

However, he did warn that those already at risk of heart problems would be at even greater risk as a result of the high-dose drugs.

High blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking all increase the risk of heart problems.

Prof Baigent said: "The higher your risk of heart disease, the higher your risk of a complication. Roughly speaking, if you've got double the risk of heart disease, then the risk of having a heart attack is roughly doubled."

He said patients should consider ways to reduce their risk, which could include statins for some patients.
Alternative

A similar drug called rofecoxib (known as Vioxx), was voluntarily taken off the market by its manufacturer in 2004 after similar concerns were raised.

There are more than 17 million prescriptions of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the UK each year. Two thirds are either ibuprofen or diclofenac.

A third drug, naproxen, had lower risks of heart complications in the study and some doctors are prescribing this to higher-risk patients.

The drug does a similar job to aspirin by stopping the blood from clotting although this also increases the odds of a stomach bleed.

Prof Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research UK, said the drugs were a "lifeline" for millions of people with arthritis and were "extremely effective in relieving pain".

He added: "However, because of their potential side-effects, in particular the increased risk of cardiovascular complications which has been known for a number of years, there is an urgent need to find alternatives that are as effective, but safer."

Prof Donald Singer, member of the British Pharmacological Society and from the University of Warwick, said: "The findings underscore a key point for patients and prescribers - powerful drugs may have serious harmful effects.

"It is therefore important for prescribers to take into account these risks and ensure patients are fully informed about the medicines they are taking."

This article is courtesy of BBC News.

Taking legal action against medical negligence

Medical negligence, which is now becoming known as “clinical negligence” here in the UK, is the suffering of an injury of some kind that was caused as a result of negligent care or treatment by a medical professional. 

You only have a case to make a claim if there is a casual connection and the injury could have been avoided. There are many factors involved when it comes to taking legal action and no case is the same. Contacting a personal injury solicitor will be necessary for advice that is specific to your case.

Examples of claims

• Medical negligence claims can cover a whole variety of areas but examples include:
• Misdiagnosis or failure to make a diagnosis at all
• Prescribing the incorrect medication
• Making a mistake during surgery or another medical procedure
• A lack of warning regarding risks of a treatment
• Failure to gain the patients consent before beginning a treatment

Typical first contact with a solicitor

If you believe that you have grounds to claim for compensation, then the first form of action that you need to take is to find a firm of UK Personal Injury Solicitors. Many of the more reputable firms will be willing to provide a free consultation, of which is well worth taking advantage. Use the opportunity to openly discuss your case revealing the details of your claim and ask for advice regarding what step you should take next. 

Your solicitor should tell you honestly whether or not your case is worth pursuing and the kind of compensation to which you may be entitled. They should also spell it out very clearly to you that the process could be lengthy, expensive and physically and mentally draining. Medical negligence cases are normally very complex, so be prepared for what you are about to take-on.

The potential consequences of NHS negligence

The NHS is something that many of us take for granted in the UK, and whilst it might not be perfect, our health service is not something that we should hold our noses up at. 

Having said that, when we go into hospital or visit our GP, we are to an extent putting our lives in the hands of these medical professionals and entrusting them with it. With that comes a responsibility on their part, to take care of us to the best of their ability and act professionally at all times. 

On most occasions this is exactly what happens, but every now and then mistakes are made that can lead to more harm than good. If a doctor makes a mistake and injury is considered to be a direct result of that, then it is very possible that you have suffered from NHS negligence and, as a result, hold ground to file for compensation.

Typical claims
Claims against the NHS are incredibly varied and can include injury to babies, misdiagnosis of a condition, surgical errors, dental injuries and administration of the wrong treatment to name just a few. There are a great many more examples of cases that are made claiming NHS negligence and those that can provide adequate evidence to support their claim, receive an appropriate amount in compensation. 

The exact figure will be negotiated between your own personal injury solicitor and that of the NHS, and most of the time both parties agree to settle out of court. This saves both time and money and everyone wants the process over with as fast as possible. The amount you get in compensation will depend on the extent of your suffering, physically and psychology, as well as your financial loss as a result of your injury.

Derriford Hospital sorry over penicillin error

A Devon hospital has admitted making a "serious error" after a patient who was given penicillin despite being allergic to it died.

John Dudding, 80, died in Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, three days after being given the drug in February 2012.

His family said the hospital was told about his allergy.

Conservative Plymouth MP Oliver Colville said it was "a deeply tragic event" and called for a review into the way Mr Dudding's treatment was handled.

Mr Dudding, from Sutton in Plymouth, was admitted to hospital after suffering a fall at his home.

Oliver Colville MP Conservative, Plymouth

While his family was visiting he was given an injection containing a derivative of penicillin and became ill "within seconds".
Red wrist band

His daughter Kim Tremaine said: "My father was bright red and his face was so swollen, it was two or three times the size.

"He was gasping for breath."

She added: "My father told the ambulance men when they arrived [about his allergy] and they placed a red wrist band on his wrist.

"When he got to A&E he told them about his allergy.

"I saw on his medical documents at the bottom of his bed that it said 'allergic to penicillin'.

Mr Colville has written to the health secretary, the hospital's chief executive and Ian Arrow, coroner for Torbay and South Devon.
'Serious drug error'

He said: "This is about how people are treated when they go into hospital.

"They go into hospital in order to get better and to come out.

"They don't go into hospital in order to be injected with something that they shouldn't have.

"I am appalled by this, this is a deeply tragic event."

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We let Mr Dudding down in terms of the care we provided because there was a serious drug error and we apologise sincerely for this.

"We don't know how or if this drug error contributed to Mr Dudding's death.

"That is for the inquest to determine.

"We will, of course, co-operate fully with the coroner and Mr Dudding's family."

An inquest into Mr Dudding's death is expected to take place later this year.

This article is courtesy of BBC News.

10,000 cancer patients given the wrong drugs

The report by Macmillan Cancer Support found basic failings in the care of tens of thousands of cancer sufferers.

One in three patients said they were treated in dirty surroundings. In cases when patients required extra food - having missed meals because of surgery, or become weak because of their treatment - more than half were denied it.

The YouGov survey of more than 2,000 cancer patients found that six per cent of patients - the equivalent to more than 10,000 patients a year - were given the wrong drugs.

The charity said drug errors involved nurses mixing up medication and giving it to the wrong patients, while in other cases patients were left with inadequate pain relief, because staff did not understand their needs.

The poll found that seven per cent of patients - an estimated 12,000 of the 170,000 treated for cancer each year - became so fed up with the way that the way they were treated by staff that they considered abandoning their treatment early.

Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “It is alarming that so many cancer patients are given the wrong drugs, left hungry while being treated in hospital or have even felt like dropping out of treatment because of their interactions with staff.

“This survey sheds a worrying light on the sub-culture within some parts of the NHS where bad patient experience is acceptable. We have seen this at its worst in the case of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust exposed in the Francis Inquiry.”

The charity said lack of food, incorrect drugs and a dirty environment could compromise the health of cancer patients and put back their recovery.

This article is courtesy of The Telegraph.

Medical error leaves woman bed-ridden

A woman is in a serious medical condition after she was allegedly put on tuberculosis treatment, yet she was suffering from a different ailment altogether. The medical boob follows a recent one in

which another woman died following two major operations conducted by a local gynaecologist.

Vimbai Ndongwe (25) is now battling for life at Mutare Provincial Hospital where she is due to undergo operation for a complicated stomach ailment that is making her excrete bucket loads of puss daily.

Her husband, Mandlankosi Mguni, is bitter saying his wife's condition deteriorated at the beginning of the year after she was wrongly put on tuberculosis treatment for two months by a medical doctor (name withheld) at a mission hospital in Mutare.

He said what started as a simple headache has turned into a litany of ailments because his wife reacted to the wrongly prescribed TB treatment. The situation has also dug deep into his pockets having used more than $4 000 in medical bills since January.

"I need another $1 000 for the operation," he said.

When contacted for comment, the doctor said he was not in a position to say anything over the phone.
"We see a lot of patients on a daily basis and anyone with complaints must come in person so that we sit, look at the medical notes and find out their problem. I am in the dark and it will be helpful if those with queries visit the hospital. I will attend to them," he said.

Mguni's bone of contention is that had his wife been given the right prescription in the first place she would not be in the dire state she was today.
"I confronted the doctor over the issue after my wife had been referred to another hospital because her condition was deteriorating. Doctors at the new hospital diagnosed and found out that my wife who had been put on TB treatment was not suffering from that disease after all.

"After this, I went back to the doctor and confronted him over the issue. He apologised and said he thought that my wife had TB. I wanted to wage a war against him then, but my relatives dissuaded me saying I should make sure that my wife recovers first," he said.
Mguni said he smelt a rat after his wife's medical treatment card vanished from her hospital bed.

"This was a cover up because that card had all the information concerning the TB treatment. Hospital staff tried to locate it, but they found nothing and I knew that someone was trying to cover his tracks. Right now my wife is in pain and bed-ridden and what that doctor only did was to say I am sorry.

“That will not help me. At least he must show remorse by visiting his patient but, as it stands, his misdeeds are now my problems. It's not fair," he said.
Mguni said his wife now has swollen feet, backache and she excretes puss daily.

"She is due to undergo an operation which doctors say would stop the puss. She is also undergoing blood transfusion because her blood levels are too low. I had to sell some of my property to meet these costs which could have been avoided in the first place.
“What eats me is that I paid a lot of money to this doctor to treat my wife but he messed up. My money is gone and my wife is in a serious condition. Can't you see I am being hit from all angles," he said.

Manicaland medical director Dr Tawanda Murambi said patients with queries must visit his offices and lodge them.

"I think most of these cases are happening because of poor communication between the doctors and the patients. Medical issues are complicated and there cannot be one answer to a complication. Maybe that patient is right or maybe the doctor is right.

“It is also possible that the second doctor who told the patient that she was on wrong TB medicine failed to properly diagnose the root of the chronic headache. Maybe that patient had TB as diagnosed by the first doctor and this might explain why she is still ill because she might be on wrong treatment after all.

“So this is a complex issue that requires constant communication between the doctors and patients or their relatives. When doctors don't give patients information this leads to speculation," he said.

This article is courtesy of the Manica Post.

Judge orders $30 million judgment against former Florida pain clinic

A Glynn County judge has awarded $30 million to the widow of a man who died of a drug overdose after his treatment at a Brunswick pain clinic closed since agents raided it in 2012.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett set the damages Monday in a default judgment after the Wellness Center of Brunswick failed to respond to a malpractice and wrongful death suit that Susan Bennett, wife of the late William Wardell Bennett, filed in January.

Scarlett also awarded $5,570 to Bennett’s estate for his funeral expenses and immediate pain and suffering.

The suit claims that Bennett, 52, went to Brunswick Wellness Jan. 5, 2011, for treatment for chronic pain and died six days later of an overdose of drugs that physician Dennis S. Momah prescribed.

He was found dead at his Appling County home two days after he had been treated for respiratory problems, said Susan Bennett’s lawyer, J. Dow III.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation autopsy showed that he died of having multiple drugs in his system that reacted in an adverse way, Dow said.

“That was his one and only visit to that facility,’’ Dow said.

Momah pleaded guilty this year to prescribing addictive pain medication for no legitimate medical purpose and is awaiting sentencing. The owner of the business, Roland R. Colandrea, Jr., 43, pleaded guilty Friday to a single count of conspiracy to distribute drugs while the former office manager, Natalie Anderson, has pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering. The business opened in November 2010 and never reopened after it was raided July 14, 2011.

Bennett has a long medical history that is laid out in the suit. It included shortness of breath, emphysema/asthma, smoking, a nervous disorder, anxiety, depression, chronic back pain, degenerative disc disease, a heart condition and high blood pressure.

He had positive drug screens for opiates or morphine, the active ingredient of Xanax, and the addictive painkiller oxycodone. Bennett also had a prescription from another physician for Roxicodone and Xanax.

In spite of that history, Momah conducted a short examination of Bennett and prescribed 270 tablets of Roxicodone, a variation of oxycodone, and 90 doses of Xanax.

The suit says Momah prescribed an excessive number of short-acting opiads that have no legitimate used in the care and treatment of chronic back pain.

The suit said the owners and managers of Brunswick Wellness were negligent in that they booked so many patients a day that it was impossible to evaluate patients.

A federal indictment of the clinic’s owner, manager and three physicians said the doctors treated 35 patients in a day and that one of the prescribing physicians saw 63 in a single day

The two other physicians, Cleveland J. Enmon and Bruce I. Tetalman, are awaiting trial on drug distribution charges.

This article is courtesy of Jacksonville.com