Great Aunt was Overdosed

[Alan W.]

My aunt called and said that something was wrong. I drove to her house, she lives about 1/4 mile away. She was having a seizure so I called the ambulance which took her to one of the local hospitals.

They wanted to send her to a larger hospital that had a Neurologist on staff. We agreed and the Dr. set it up. She said that my aunt would be admitted there for observation and to discover the cause of the seizures.

Ambulance took her to the larger hospital. They lost the paperwork, took forever to finally get a Neurologist to talk to us. He wanted to try a drug she had not used. Shift change forgot to pass on about the drugs. When the pharmacy was called they said that the drugs were delivered long ago. Finally got the iv going and completed. Was discharged once iv was complete.

Left and almost home when she went out of her head. Took her to the first hospital where they told me she was overdosed on Dilantin.

She spent two days there while they monitored her. The home health nurse and the therapist come to her house now trying to get her back to normal.

I am starting to realize why so many people die from medical mistakes now.

 

[RoyKing]

You really need a patient's advocate, some who visits regularly and talks with doctors and nurses. You give that person all responsibility for medical decisions, that way the doctors have converse with them.

 

[RNeumann]

Dilantin is a drug that interacts differently with different folks. So much so that if you are prescribed the drug you must be routinely checked for proper levels.

It is unfortunate that their was a bad reaction. And we may never why it happened. I’m glad she is home and on the mend.

 

[Alan W.]

Dilantin is a drug that interacts differently with different folks. So much so that if you are prescribed the drug you must be routinely checked for proper levels.

It is unfortunate that their was a bad reaction. And we may never why it happened. I知 glad she is home and on the mend.

Thats what I have found out. It is a drug that interacts very differently depending on age and other meds. This is the reason that levels in the blood must be monitored initially to set the dose correctly. They never did this nor were we given any warnings about the potential problems.
Also the daily level they prescribed was twice what was needed.

 

[Jchonline]

Well lets start with what dose she was given. Do you know? If you dont then it is hard to say if she was overdosed. However it does sound like she reacted badly and I am sorry for that. I do hope she makes a quick recovery.

 

[CobyRupert]

....and yet we spend $trillions and almost 20 years occupying foreign lands & causing untold deaths (and suicides) because of 19 mostly Saudi terrorists:

Medical errors third-leading cause of death in America

Don't want to get political, just making a comparison of our screwed up priorities.

 

[Alan W.]

Well lets start with what dose she was given. Do you know? If you dont then it is hard to say if she was overdosed. However it does sound like she reacted badly and I am sorry for that. I do hope she makes a quick recovery.

Dont know how much was given. Problem was they were not monitoring the levels in her blood to tell when the dosage was correct.

It was the emergency room Dr that told me she was overdosed.

This happened at what is suppose to be our states premier hospital.

 

[TractorGuy]

Beware of the drug Ativan on seniors too. A hospital doctor gave that to my mother inlaw and she went berserk. They had to get a restraint order and tie her down until it wore off. Later her GP said he NEVER prescribed that drug to seniors because of its unpredictable side effects.

 

[gsganzer]

You really need a patient's advocate, some who visits regularly and talks with doctors and nurses. You give that person all responsibility for medical decisions, that way the doctors have converse with them.

You're 100% correct. My diabetic mother was in the hospital and they started an IV with a glucose based solution. Nearly killed her. It was missed by the doctor, nurse and hospital pharmacy.

 

[kenmac]

that's why DR's are only given a license to ''Practice medicine'' Meaning, they aren't pro's at it.
Those that finish last in their class are also called DR. That's why It would be great to see (printed on their license to practice) how well they performed in med school