Baltimore Family Awarded Millions after a Medication Error Led to the Death of Their Loved One

Medication errors are a significant problem in modern health care. Also called adverse drug events (ADE), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that ADE’s account for nearly 700,000 emergency department visits and 100,000 hospitalizations each year. The AHRQ also reports that approximately 5% of hospitalized patients will experience an ADE making them one of the most common types of inpatient medical errors.

An unfortunate example of a fatal medication error occurred in Baltimore at the University of Maryland Medical System led to a $10 million jury verdict. A wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the family of a man who was admitted to the University of Maryland Hospital because he was experiencing kidney and liver problems including rhabdomyolysis, a condition that can cause kidney failure.

While in the hospital, the man was given the drug, Kayexalate, which helps rid the body of excess potassium for heart problems. It works by extracting excess potassium form the blood and sending it to the colon so that the body can eliminate it. The drug caused irreparable damage to the man’s colon, which it took the medical staff several hours to determine. The family alleged in their lawsuit that the University of Maryland doctor prescribed the medication without understanding the possibility of damage to the colon. Failing to understand and weigh the risks of a medication before prescribing it to a patient may represent a breach of the accepted standard of care that any other prudent physician under the same circumstances might provide. A medication error that causes the death of the patient may be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Examples of medication errors in a health care setting

A medication error differs from an ADE in that an ADE does not necessarily occur because of poor patient care. A medication error is an error of omission or commission on the part of a health care professional. The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting (NCCMERP) estimates that about 1.3 million people are injured because of medication errors, which occur in a variety of ways including:

• Wrong dosage
• Wrong medication
• Wrong patient
• Improper route or method of administering the medication
• Insufficient information given to patients about medication dosage and any restrictions

The Council defines a medication error as:

“Any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer. Such events may be related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing, order communication, product labelling, packaging, and nomenclature, compounding, dispensing, distribution, administration, education, monitoring, and use.”

To learn more about medication errors, please contact Paulson & Nace, PLLC through this contact form or by calling 202-463-1999.