DOMINO, NIKKI Y. 4 ACN 1 (B)

Hospital fined $500,000 after giving elderly patient wrongmedication

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital was cited for negligence and fined $500,000after an elderly patient was mistakenly given another patient’s diabetesmedication, causing the woman’s death. Joseph Peracca says they hadplanned to bring his terminally ill wife, Esther, home to be with her family inher final days. The hospital didn’t tell him or state officials that she had dieddue to a drug mix-up, which was discovered only after an investigation by theCalifornia Department of Health Services.

The husband of a 76-year-old woman who died last year after mistakenlybeing given the wrong medicine at a Santa Rosa skilled nursing facility saidWednesday that hospital officials had never given him an explanation of whathappened. "They never said anything to me," said Joseph Peracca, whoseterminally ill wife, Esther, died last May after a nurse mistakenly gave heranother patient's medicine for diabetes. Esther Peracca's death happened atthe nursing facility at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and led state healthofficials to recently cite the hospital and impose a $50,000 fine for its role inher death. As news of the fine came out this week, a top supervisor for theSonoma County coroner's office said there were questions about how theSanta Rosa woman's death was officially reported to the coroner. Under statelaw, accidental deaths must be reported to, and are routinely investigated by,the coroner. Will Wallman of the coroner's office said Wednesday that he wasbaffled as to why the hospital had not informed him that Peracca's death wasa medical accident. "We know that our nurse manager did call the coroner'soffice and report that there was a medication error," Greensweig said. Themedication error "should have been made known to us right out of the gate,and we would have taken a hard look at it," said Wallman. An investigation bythe California Department of Health Services found that poor care of Peracca,including a failure to promptly notify the patient's physician of the medicationerror and to provide emergency medical assistance, had led to her death. Thelicensed vocational nurse who gave Peracca the wrong medication told stateinvestigators he had forgotten to check Peracca's armband to be certain thatthe diabetes medication was intended for her, according to the state's 18-page investigative report.

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DOMINO, NIKKI Y. 4 ACN 1 (B)

REACTION

To ensure proper medication administration the health careworker must adhere to the six rights of medication administration:First: The right medication, comparison of the medication to themedication order is imperative. The administrator must only givemedication they have prepared and be present when it is taken.Second: The right dose, to ensure that the right dose is given, theadministrator must triple check any calculations and have anotherteam member check the calculation. Third: The right client, theadministrator must identify the client by checking the medicationorder and the client’s identification bracelet to ensure that the rightclient is receiving the right medication. Fourth: The right route, theadministrator must give the medication via the right route. Inpreparing the medication, the triple check will identify the route tobe given on the medication order. Fifth: The right time, theadministrator will check the medication order to ensure that themedication is given at the right time. The prescriber will identify thetimes that the medication is to be given. Last but not the least:Proper documentation, the administrator will record the client’sstatus prior to the medication administration as well as themedication given, the time it was given, the dose given, and theroute it was given in. Then the administrator will follow up andrecord the client’s response to the medication given.