Originally published November 10 2005
San Jose man dead after doctor administers wrong chemotherapy drug
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A report by the California Department of Health Services determined that Christopher Wibeto died at Kaiser Permanente's Santa Teresa Medical Center after being injected with the wrong chemotherapy medication.
A 21-year-old San Jose man died Aug. 29 at Kaiser Permanente's Santa Teresa Medical Center, three days after a physician injected him with the wrong medication.
Christopher Wibeto, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, was given the wrong chemotherapy drug on Aug. 26, a report by the California Department of Health Services determined.
The physician told investigators that a nurse handed him the pre-filled medicated syringe without checking the label, and that he also failed to check the label for accuracy before injecting the drug into Wibeto's spine.
This occurred despite the hospital's policy, which states, "there should be a second licensed person checking the drug before administration,'' according to the report.
The pharmacist who delivered the medication intended for Wibeto to the wrong hospital unit and subsequently delivered that patient's prescribed medication to Wibeto's unit couldn't explain to investigators how the fatal error occurred.
The pharmacist also told investigators that there is no policy or procedure for the delivery of these drugs, according to the report.
Lea Brooks, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Health Services, said she's rarely seen errors like this in her profession.
Kaiser Permanente Santa Teresa Medical Center was cited as a deficient facility as a result of this incident, she said.
how it's going to fix the problem to make sure it doesn't happen again,'' Brooks said.
Despite the hospital staff's fatal error, the state agency doesn't have the authority to levee a financial penalty.
"There's no provision in state law for a monetary fine for hospitals,'' she said.
"We can fine nursing homes, but state law doesn't have a provision for hospitals.''
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