Hospital Medication Error Lawsuit Results in $5 Million Verdict
Published: February 10th, 2009 • Comments: 5
A jury has awarded $5 million in a Pennsylvania malpractice lawsuit filed over a hospital medication error where a woman developed permanent brain damage after being given eight times the amount of sodium that her doctor prescribed to treat an electrolyte deficiency.
The lawsuit was filed by Mary Ellen Pfeifer against University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) McKeesport Hospital in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Pfeifer was admitted to the emergency room on December 21, 2006, and blood test revealed that she was suffering from confusion and difficulty walking caused by critically low sodium. The treatment plan called for her low sodium to be corrected at a rate of 125 cc per hour. However, due to a medication error by the hospital staff, she received 1000 cc in one hour.
This rapid intravenous infusion of sodium led to permanent brain damage known as central pontine myelinolysis. As a result, Pfeifer now has a difficult time walking, has impaired thinking, slurs when she speaks, has been unable to return to work and requires in-home care.
The hospital medication error lawsuit resulted in a total verdict of $5,003,000, which included $2.4 million for her past damages and $105,000 per year for the next 25 years to cover her medical expenses.
Over the past decade, the number of serious and life-threatening injuries caused by hospital medication mistakes has increased substantially.
According to a 2006 report by the National Academies of Science’s Institute of Medicine, there are about 1.5 million medication errors every year which result in injuries. These mistakes are largely preventable and could be caused by a doctor prescribing the medication incorrectly, the pharmacy filling the wrong dosage or by nurses dispensing a different patient’s drugs.
The risk of medication errors is not limited to hospitals, but has also been seen in nursing homes and retail pharmacies.
Last week, it was announced that a Maryland Wal-mart pharmacy lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum after a 66 year old man died from complications after he was given someone else’s medication due to an error by the pharmacy.
Comment by J. M. Amitin on 11 February 2009:
To Whom It May Concerned:
I personally appreciate the article above for assisting those of us who have been blessed to be able to live on as a victim of Central Pontine Myelinolysis or CPM as it’s been stated that at one time some 50 to 75% of those had fallen to this “Iatrogenic Disease.” It now being 50 Years since Dr. Adams, MD along with his colleagues at Harvard founded this now called neuromuscular, toxic, demyelinating disease / disorder of the Central Nervous System.
Please note I am not a doctor but because of my personal research strictly on myelin isuues, I have been considered an advocate in the areas that parallel CPM. Those who happen to search out this issue will note that compared to many others that have similar backrounds, CPM has been left out of what I would consider normal available information along with the fact that there happens to be a major story world wide behind what appears to be the only story or facts.
As a victim of Central Pontine Myelinolysis, all I have to do is continue the “Truth of CPM,” as I help both victims and families all over the world. Many have never heard the names of Dr. Hugo W. Moser,MD, (now deceased) Mr. Augusto Odone’, (Myelin Project) Dr. Steven Groft, PhD. Director Office of Rare Diseases, US National Institutes of Health, etc. In the time I have become disabled, I’ve had the opportunity to communicate with those who have already been taken. I have started the CPM Awareness Foundation in which I am the entire organization. Just maybe besides God’s interest in my work in regards to Central Pontine Myelinolysis a horiffic event in most cases usually caused by the world’s collection of those involved in “The Healing Arts. It’s now been 50 years with very little accomplished. I can only pray that this comment finds what the words Truth, Honesty and Reality are all about. G-d Bless….
J.M.Amitin and Franky (my boston terrier neuro service companion)
Comment by Veronica A Richards on 3 September 2009:
I am the attorney who represented Mary Ellen Pfeifer. I am astounded by the number of calls we have received from people who suffer from CPM due to medical malpractice.
Comment by BONNIE on 4 September 2009:
I WISH TO CONTACT J M AMITIN I TOO HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH CENTRAL PONTINE MYELINOLYSIS I WOULD LIKE TO TALK TO HER OR HIM
Comment by annette on 17 November 2009:
please help me get back my last quarter of life.
Comment by annette on 17 November 2009:
this has ruined my life and the lives of my family