The receipt of the wrong medication has prompted the children of one man to file a lawsuit against the hospital in which the incident occurred. As a result of the medication error, the man lost his life. The incident occurred as the man was coming out of anesthesia for a surgery performed to repair a perforation in his gastrointestinal tract. While this incident occurred in another state, it could have easily happened in Pennsylvania.

Specifically, instead of Fentanyl, the man was given Sufentanil citrate. The administration of the wrong drug leads to the drop in the man's oxygen level. In addition, his heart rate and blood pressure began to fall. It took nearly an hour for the mistake to be recognized.

After the mistake was discovered, the attending doctors did not administer the drug Narcan which can undo the effects of Sufentanil. Instead the man was taken to the hospital's intensive care unit.

The man never recovered from the mistake and after a second surgery, he died. He was 66-years-old.

The lawsuit alleges the receipt of the wrong medication, which the doctor acknowledged, is what led to his death. The man's children are seeking more than $10,000 in damages.

When someone must undergo a surgery there is always a certain amount of risk involved. There are times that the condition necessitating the operation is too serious for the procedure to help. However, when an injury is inflicted through the negligent action of one of the participants in the surgery it is possible that a medical malpractice lawsuit such as this one may be filed.

Source: The-Dispatch.com, "Siblings file medical malpractice suit over death of father," Darrick Ignasiak, June 20, 2013