FREDERICKSBURG,
Va. - One patient died and another was injured when nurses
at Mary Washington Hospital accidentally gave them lethal
doses of a narcotic painkiller, state health records show.
The incidents occurred in July after the nurses incorrectly
programmed the patients' medication pumps, according to the
records obtained by The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg.
The patients received doses nearly 50 times the recommended
level.
The health department's Center for Quality Health Care Services
and Consumer Protection cited the hospital for failing to
implement policies to protect patients, failing to follow
developed policies, and failing to use all available safety
measures. The citations do not carry a fine.
Hospital officials, who disputed some of the state (news -
web sites)'s findings, said they will file a reply by February.
"We acknowledge that this mistake occurred," said Fred M.
Rankin III, chief executive of MediCorp Health System, the
hospital's parent company. "We are deeply saddened by it.
We have taken full and complete responsibility for it."
An attorney representing the family (news - web sites) of
the deceased patient, 43-year-old Kenneth E. Dople Jr. of
Stafford, declined to comment about the incident. The injured
patient, who suffered respiratory failure, also declined to
comment. The newspaper did not publish that patient's name.
