I think I am going to be sick

[BoSoxGal]

This case is a prime example of why tort reform with awards capped at $250k is completely unconscionable - if this happened in the US, where there isn't universal healthcare, such an award would not begin to cover the lifelong medical costs this woman will incur, much less address pain & suffering, loss of consortium, etc.

[@meric@nwom@n]

Now if the anasthetic were compounded or mixed in the bowl, I'd guess I could see a benefit

No, no no no no no no.

Germs. No. If you mix something you plan to inject you pull some out of vial A with a syringe, then you change the needle and draw some out of vial B. All done in a closed, contained system. YOU NEVER, EVER, NOT IN THE CIVILIZED WORLD, POUR SOMETHING STERILE OUT OF A VIAL INTO A METAL PAN AND THEN DRAW IT UP FOR INJECTION. If you were to ever see someone drawing something up from an open container with the intention of injecting you with it I suggest that you run for your fucking life because they, meaning the person doing that, is ragingly incompetent.


NO NO NO!

[Gob]

YOU NEVER, EVER, NOT IN THE CIVILIZED WORLD, POUR SOMETHING STERILE OUT OF A VIAL INTO A METAL PAN AND THEN DRAW IT UP FOR INJECTION.


NO NO NO!

It's bad reporting folks;

The two substances - both clear liquids - were placed in separate dishes on a sterile table in the delivery room, the Herald has learned, and were mixed up as a consequence of being unlabelled.

Could it not be that unlabeled vials were placed on two dishes, nobody labels dishes do they?

It would appear that the person doing the injection has seen a clear liquid in a vial, drawn it up and not checked first. As incompetent and unforgivable as any other of the scenarios outlined here, but a bit more realistic.

[@meric@nwom@n]

Except that chlorhexidine comes with a screw top lid, perhaps with a flip top lid that would never be mistaken, under any pretense of competency, with the kind of vial that an injectable comes in. Injectable vials are sealed with a rubber barrier at the top that you stick the syringe through to draw it up. It would not matter if the label was removed, you would still recognize that the bottle with the chlorhexidine was not an injectable.

[@meric@nwom@n]

[@meric@nwom@n]

Typical injectable vial:

[Rick]

Outdated medical procedure behind catastrophic epidural injury

HE medication practice that led to the catastrophic neurological injuries of a Sydney woman, Grace Wang, during an epidural was phased out of other hospitals more than a decade ago.

Ms Wang was poisoned during the birth of her first child in June at St George Hospital when an antiseptic skin preparation was accidentally injected into her spinal canal in place of an anaesthetic. The case has rocked NSW Health and shocked the public.

The two substances - both clear liquids - were placed in separate dishes on a sterile table in the delivery room, the Herald has learned, and were mixed up as a consequence of being unlabelled. Other hospitals insist drugs are drawn by the anaesthetist directly from their original vial or ampoule into a syringe.

The head of anaesthesia at Westmead Hospital, Peter Klineberg, said yesterday the practice of drawing medications from stainless steel dishes was routine a generation ago. ''It was identified as being an undesirable and unsafe practice.''

The antiseptic infused into Ms Wang's spine, chlorhexidine, has increasingly been used in the past five years in NSW because it mixes readily with alcohol, which accelerates drying and the epidural catheter can be inserted sooner.

The chlorhexidine wrongly injected into Ms Wang, who has suffered severe pain and can no longer walk, is understood to have been mixed with alcohol.

Her husband, Jason Zheng, said she was extremely distressed and was vomiting during her labour, and needed pain relief urgently.

The shift to chlorhexidine has been controversial, and a senior anaesthetist told the Herald betadine - the yellow iodine-based antiseptic which is easily distinguishable from clear epidural drugs - was probably safer.

NSW Health's medication policy states that in general ''the same person must select a medication, administer the medication and record its administration'', but if a nurse prepares drugs the prescribing doctor is responsible for checking them. Someone other than an anaesthetist prepared Ms Wang's drug, the Herald understands.

Not trying to excuse the mix up but this may help explain it...

[Gob]

Of course you are right @-W, I should have thought that through a bit further

[@meric@nwom@n]

Which leads back to dumping the ostensibly sterile stuff into metal dishes, a practice I can't recall being done anywhere I have worked over the last couple of decades. Ick.

[Big RR]

@W--I agree 100% with you; but even if the dishes were sterile, I cannot see any reason they might be used to hold the injectable other than for mixing--like dissolving a powder in a liquid that requires significant agitation. Even then it makes little sense, and there are far better ways to achieve the same result.

[Rick]

I guess I just post for naught...

[@meric@nwom@n]

@W--I agree 100% with you; but even if the dishes were sterile, I cannot see any reason they might be used to hold the injectable other than for mixing--like dissolving a powder in a liquid that requires significant agitation. Even then it makes little sense, and there are far better ways to achieve the same result.

Actually no RR, it doesn't make any sense under those circumstances. You don't mix solutions for injectables in that manner. It is all closed.

[Gob]

I think you should have highlighted this bit Keld..

THE medication practice that led to the catastrophic neurological injuries of a Sydney woman, Grace Wang, during an epidural was phased out of other hospitals more than a decade ago.

It's obvious now that the liquids were drawn up out of a bowl. Heads should roll.

[@meric@nwom@n]

I knew what they were saying Keld, I just can't believe what they did.

[loCAtek]

Could it be a trainee was allowed to prep the medication?


Many moons ago, a friend of mine went to Balboa Hospital to give birth, because active duty Navy personal got free medical care there.

While I was present: corpsman after corpsman and one officer used her as a training exercise. I don't know if the epidural is supposed to be painful, but the shot itself from those inexperienced hands made her scream in pain.

With free health care, you get what you pay for.

[Big RR]

Free? Methinks she paid a lot for it. Imagine how much active duty personnel would have to be paid if they had to pay for healthcare out of their own pockets--that's what she paid for the healthcare. there's no free ride so far as i can see. And no excuse for incompetence.

[@meric@nwom@n]

Could it be a trainee was allowed to prep the medication?


Many moons ago, a friend of mine went to Balboa Hospital to give birth, because active duty Navy personal got free medical care there.

While I was present: corpsman after corpsman and one officer used her as a training exercise. I don't know if the epidural is supposed to be painful, but the shot itself from those inexperienced hands made her scream in pain.

With free health care, you get what you pay for.

You really are a cold little piece of work aren't you?

[loCAtek]

Because why?

[@meric@nwom@n]

Genetics?

[loCAtek]

Racist strawman


granted however, if my compassion is genetic, I'm thankful for that.