Medical Mistakes in Western PA

July 2008

Medical mistakes can be a patient's worst nightmare – the hospital that is supposed to make you better actually makes you worse. Unfortunately, medical mistakes do happen, and it is estimated that there are 3 million medication errors in western Pennsylvania every year.

A local news investigation found that every hospital in the western PA area has made medical mistakes. Here a few examples:

• Allegheny General Hospital – Over 50 syringes filled by the anesthesia pharmacy were incorrectly labeled. Additionally, a patient was ordered the blood-thinning drug heparin and received 14,000 units instead of 1,400 units.
• UPMC South Side – A surgical instrument was found to have bone and tissue in it from a previous surgery. It was unclear whether or not the unclean instrument was used on a patient.
• UPMC McKeesport – During an eight-month period in 2006, the hospital noted 17 serious incidents – mistakes that harmed patients. State inspectors say that the hospital failed to notify all but two of those patients that the errors had occurred.
• Ohio Valley Hospital – A patient returned to the nursing floor after surgery. There was no record that anyone checked on the patient until four hours later "at which time the patient was found without respirations," says a report.

UPMC issued a statement saying that patient safety was never at risk in any of the hospitals because the errors were a matter of record keeping, not patient safety. Allegheny General said that no patients were harmed in the incidents at the hospital and that the errors were thoroughly evaluated. Every year, 1.5 million patients are hurt by medication errors in the United States.