A hospital will pay $8.3 million to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit regarding medication errors that caused the death of a baby boy. Though the case did not take place in Pennsylvania, it is likely of interest to anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation due to a medication error.

The infant was born four months early, and he was hospitalized at birth. When he was 40 days old, the hospital tragically administered a lethal dose of sodium–60 times the dose the baby's doctor had prescribed–in his IV solution. A resident physician at the hospital noticed elevated sodium levels in the baby's blood test results, and he ordered additional tests because he doubted the infant would have such high levels of sodium in his blood. However, the baby died before he could be retested.

After the baby's death, the hospital conducted an investigation into the causes of the incident and found that a data entry worker had keyed the wrong sodium formula into a program that mixed the solution. In addition to paying the settlement, the hospital has also changed its processes to help reduce the risk of a similar incident occurring again.

The incident illustrates the reason some people may be wary of the medical profession and why it is important for hospitals to adopt practices to reduce the risk of medical malpractice. The initial error demonstrates the importance of avoiding a careless error in an environment where a missed keystroke can threaten a life. The error was compounded when hospital staff failed to act immediately to start the second blood test that the resident had ordered.

Hopefully the changes the hospital implemented in this case will prevent similar problems in the future. Sadly there is nothing that can be done to restore the young life of the child loss.

Source: Business Insurance, "Hospital settles with family of infant who died from too much intravenous sodium," Judy Greenwald, April 5, 2012