Medication errors frequently underreported in hospitals

February 23, 2013 (Press-News.org) If a person experiences an injury or illness that requires medical care, he or she will often schedule an appointment with a familiar doctor or physician. These relationships lead patients to trust the decisions made by their doctors, in the hopes that the treatment will cure the injuries or illnesses.

However, mistakes in hospitals are an all-too-frequent occurrence. A recent study discussed the rate of medication errors happening in hospitals across the country. Some of these errors even led to the death or serious injury of the patient, which could potentially subject the doctor or hospital to a medical malpractice claim.

The study, by researchers at Johns Hopkins, examined medication errors from 1999 to 2005. This included instances of wrong dosage amounts, wrong medications prescribed, as well as adverse reactions to medication.

Nearly 800,000 medication errors were reviewed, all of which were voluntarily reported by the hospital, meaning that many more errors may have went unreported. Patients in intensive care units accounted for 6.6 percent of the total number of cases in the study. While many of the medication errors did not result in a harmful effect on the patient's condition, 110 deaths did result due to these mistakes.

This is just one example of some of the dangers that patients face when seeking care at hospitals. Another recent study examined "never events" that are occurring in hospitals nationwide. A never event is a mistake that can easily be prevented, and can refer to issues such as wrong-site surgeries or the leaving behind of sponges or other medical devices.

Each week, it is expected that nearly 80 never events happen in hospitals across the country. Many of these are not reported, because hospitals generally only report mistakes that result in medical malpractice claims. Some patients are even unaware that the never event happened, which shows how difficult to determine the true number of medical errors that are occurring.

The results of these studies show that hospitals may need to develop further training for those individuals engaged in treating patients. While it may be uncomfortable for the doctors and staff to discuss mistakes that happened during the course of treatment, it is information that may be necessary for patients to know to help them better recover from injuries and illnesses.

Not all of these mistakes may result in medical malpractice claims. If you or a loved one has been injured due to the negligence of a medical professional, speak to an experienced personal injury attorney to understand the options that may be available in your situation. Each case is different, and the facts of your situation must be analyzed to determine if compensation may be available.

Article provided by Emolo & Collini
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