Vanderbilt is having a rough patch. First the lethal Vecuronium error and now a "never event".
A woman at Vanderbilt undergoing kidney surgery suffered a wrong-site surgery to her kidney- a "never event". She filed a 25 million dollar lawsuit due to extensive damage and is now dependent on dialysis. Neither here nor there, but one news report said the woman was a certified nursing assistant (CNA).
In the first case, the RN was arrested and charged with reckless homicide. Should the surgeon likewise be arrested and face charges?
She wasnegligent, in order for reckless homicide to be what occurred she had to intentionally or knowingly give the wrong medicine. She did neither of those things. She did negligently override the necessary safe guard. And yes due to her negligent behavior a patient died. She was trying to pull Versed and put the name brand name instead of the generic, it was unintentionally done and fits more into negligence.
There was way more to it than what you have surmised but you couldn’t possibly know that without reading the CMS.
I don’t know you so you needn’t worry about me taking it personally. I tend to refrain from “rating” people negatively, unless something posted is just awful, as it serves absolutely no purpose and I find it childish. I’d rather have an adult discussion about differences of opinion.
So what she did is childish, really? Your post is not adult like.
This isn't the only site with a rating system and you are taking something personally if you consider someone using a rating for its intended purpose as "childish". I rated it disagree because I disagree with your comment.
And I disagree with yours but I’d rather discuss it with you then use stupid ratings but okay I’ll do it your way.
Because if RV had followed even ONE of the standards of medication administration after not looking at the vial the patient likely would have not died. That is what makes it different which I thought was pretty clear when I listed several other things the surgeon could have done that would have made me think it was criminal. As far as I’m concerned there were no systemic errors that caused RV to act as she did. That was entirely on her and nobody else. She alone is responsible for her practice.
Also, the facts aren’t lining up for what happened to this patient so I’m reserving judgment until I have more details.
It's a fairly standard safety rule that the practitioner who is performing a procedure check the pre-op imaging/diagnostics to confirm the correct site, I wouldn't say it's any less of a rule than checking the medication label prior to giving a med. Just as with RV, had he done that, the incident likely would have been avoided, so why is RV alone responsible for her practice while the physician in this incident isn't?
To clarify the charges against RV, she isn't actually being charged for making a med error, she's being charged for using the override function of the pyxis, which at least at place I've worked is far from qualifying as negligence, it's often an expected part of nursing practice in many situations.
Ifnoteveryone than "all"? We are pulling hairs here.
I never said “all” should be charged with anything. Not splitting hairs. I said the surgeon should have his license pulled because he was the team leader. The remaining team members also have culpability but they were not the leader.
I never said “all” should be charged with anything. Not splitting hairs. I said the surgeon should have his license pulled because he was the team leader. The remaining team members also have culpability but they were not the leader.
When you quoted me and made the statement that you don’t think “everyone should be charged” it gave the appearance that you thought I did. My bad, I was just clarifying for you and others that it wasn’t what I believed.
Wuzzie
5,238 Posts
There was way more to it than what you have surmised but you couldn’t possibly know that without reading the CMS.