A Pending Test at Discharge and a Return with Sepsis

07/22/24 • 11 min

A 68-year-old male was admitted to the hospital after falling on ice and feeling short of breath. Two days after discharge, the patient arrived by ambulance at another hospital in septic shock. The patient filed a claim against the hospital, alleging that the failure to communicate a critical lab result required readmission and several weeks of follow-up treatment.

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Med Error Leads to Change in L&D Policy

A 30-year-old woman experiencing her first pregnancy, presented to the Labor and Delivery unit. She was given the wrong drug and required an emergent C-section. The “five rights” of medication administration focuses on individual factors and not necessarily on system flaws. Many organizations are also promoting just culture, which encourages reporting near-misses and patient safety events, and focuses on psychological safety and promoting a non-punitive reporting culture.

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Bad Finger, Good Documentation

A patient sued her hand surgeon, claiming the surgical approach increased the chance that their finger wouldn’t fully heal from a prior fracture. The defense leaned on contemporaneous clinical notes and documentation of the consent process to achieve a defense verdict.