An old relative had said, going to the hospital is dangerous to ones health and he wasn't going. The more I read, the more I agree with him. **************************************************************

Hospital: Faulty Test May Have Killed Two Patients, Endangered 58

By Ron Todt Associated Press Writer Published: Jul 31, 2001

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A mathematical error may have caused the deaths of two hospital patients who were given the wrong amount of a blood-thinning drug, the hospital said Tuesday. Officials at St. Agnes Medical Center in south Philadelphia said they made a mistake in an equation to determine the lab test results for 932 patients between June 4 and July 25. The test was supposed to determine the proper dosage they should receive of Coumadin, a common blood-thinning drug.

Coumadin is given to patients at risk of stroke or heart attack to prevent blood clots. The miscalculation made it appear that the patients' blood was clotting, and they were given higher doses of the drug than they should have received, officials said.

"Following preliminary internal review, Medical Center officials are reasonably certain, at this time, that two deaths may be linked to this incident," the hospital said in a statement. "A review is ongoing to determine if there are any other adverse outcomes."

Both victims were in their mid-80s to mid-90s, but hospital officials did not release any other information about them.

Dr. James Bonner, president of the center's medical staff, said the blunder was discovered when an attentive patient called a doctor about lab results that seemed unusual.

The mistake may also have endangered 58 other patients, who are all being retested, hospital spokeswoman Diana Lewis said.

"The negative impact on some of the patients would be through increased bleeding time, and so they would have bruising or could have internal hemorrhage," Bonner said.

Hospital authorities said they notified physicians whose patients could be affected and also contacted patients directly.

State health authorities were investigating the mistake, state Department of Health spokesman Richard McGarvey said.

AP-ES-07-31-01 2234EDT

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2001

Answers

Hi, Maggie..I agree! here's one on the news...a little boy had brain surgury, and was in for a MRI ...someone walked into the room with a metal canister and the magnet suck the canister to the machines, somehow the little boy's head was crushed!

very scary, hey???? and so sad.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2001

Hi SAR, yes I heard just the tail end of the MRI accident...what a awful thing to happen!

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001