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from: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/13124008.htm
Kaiser patient
dies after getting wrong medication
Associated Press
SAN JOSE, Calif. - A Kaiser Permanente patient died after receiving the wrong medication at one of the company's hospitals, the second patient recently reported to have died under similar circumstances at the facility, state health regulators said.
The California Department of Health Services said Wednesday that a 64-year-old patient at the Kaiser Santa Clara Medical Center died on Christmas Eve after receiving a double dose of stroke medication. The man's identity was not disclosed.
The hospital was cited for being "deficient" in the man's care by failing to properly check the dosage, officials said.
In August, the same hospital was cited following the death of Josephine Frances Hart, a 12-year-old girl who had received a double dose of pneumonia medication.
In both cases, the state approved the hospital's plan to require that nurses double-check medications.
Health officials said the incidents were "isolated" within different units of the hospital and did not yet represent a systemic failure that would justify revoking the facility's license.
"We are alarmed," said health department spokesman Scott Vivona. "But it's a huge step to take out a hospital for these two deaths. So we're not going to be looking at that at this point in time."
Telephone calls to Kaiser Santa Clara were not immediately returned.
Earlier this month, the Kaiser Permanente Santa Teresa Medical Center in San Jose was cited for a similar infraction.
Chemotherapy patient Christopher Robin Wibeto, 21, died in August, three days after a cancer-fighting drug intended for another patient was injected into his spine.
Under an
agreement with the health department, that hospital now requires
that three people - a doctor, a nurse, and a pharmacist - verify that
the
correct medication is being administered to patients.
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