Medication error results in death of man after surgery

During a surgical procedure, an anesthesiologist is present to ensure that the sedation is working correctly and that the patient is able to maintain oxygen levels and the proper heart rate while under the medication. Medication errors made by doctors in these situations may be deadly unless proper precautions are taken immediately. If medication errors are not treated with counteracting medications quickly and efficiently, the result may be devastating to the patient and to family members.

After entering the emergency room with low blood pressure, kidney problems and a prolonged period of having diarrhea, health care professionals closely watched the lab results of a man they felt had pneumonia and septic shock. He was eventually taken into surgery to repair a perforation in his gastrointestinal tract.

The man’s children filed a lawsuit for damages after the man struggled and died eight days after surgery. They claim his death was the result of the wrong drug being administered by the anesthesiologist, and failure of the other surgeons to administer the counteracting drug. The drug that was accidentally given to the man was ten times stronger than the intended drug.

When a person enters the emergency room for what seems to be a common ailment, they may never expect to not end up going home. Trust is placed into the hands of doctors who are experts, and the attorney for the man’s children claim the medication that was accidentally given should not have been on the surgical tray in the first place. The children may be awarded damages because of several mistakes made during and immediately after the man’s surgery.

Source: The Dispatch, “Siblings file medical malpractice suit over death of father,” Darrick Ignasiak, June 20, 2013