Hospital accidentally gives man execution drug

Hospital accidentally gives man execution drug

news.ninemsn.com.au

The family of an American man who died after he was accidentally given a medicine used in executions is suing the hospital.

Media outlets have questioned why the hospital stores its Pancuronium next to drugs for minor ailments like stomach aches.

(visit the link for the full news article)

1. Why do hospitals even have this drug? Since when have executions taken place in hospitals?

2. Why are they storing it amongst the heartburn medication?

How many people have been given this drug, perhaps in small amounts on purpose?

It seems very odd to me that a hospital would have this drug hanging aroound freely next to minor medicines for any nurse to mistakingly pick up.


news.ninemsn.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

Because Pancuronium has other uses than as an executant?

Its only one of the chemicals used in executions, and its a muscle relaxer which has many medical applications.

Also just about anything swapped accidentally in the wrong amount in a hospital could be extremly dangerous, this one just happend to be one related to executions

So what is new about this, almost everything they prescribe kills people.

Ever see the disclaimers?

This drug may relieve your particular symptom,but

WARNING! Your eyes may start to bleed, liver hardening may occur, testicles may shrink, hair will most likely fall out, heart palpitations will increase, hearing loss in 8 out of 9 people may occur, shortness of breath, inconsistency in urination, soreness and redness in the groin area happens in 10% of the users.

It is used in major surgery among other uses. All you have to do is a little bit or research...

Pancuronium

Pancuronium is used with general anaesthesia in surgery for muscle relaxation and as an aid to intubation or ventilation. It does not have sedative or analgesic effects.

Side-effects include moderately raised heart rate and thereby arterial pressure and cardiac output, excessive salivation, apnea and respiratory depression, rashes, flushing, and sweating. The muscular relaxation can be dangerous in the seriously ill and it can accumulate leading to extended weakness. Pancuronium is not preferable in long-term use in ICU-ventilated patients.

There are 3 drugs used in executions, not just one. After 22 major surgeries, I am still here.

reply to post by mazzle


Because like it says here it is a muscle relaxant with other uses.
en.wikipedia.org...

My understanding is that it is a muscle relaxant. It is frequently used, but a sufficient dose (like with anything else) can be fatal. The victim was 79 with a heart condition, so the nurse's mistake was all the more serious. It almost sounds as though they were storing the stuff alphabetically. The problem appeared to be that the nurse failed to make three different checks, any one of which would probably have saved his life.

Drugs dont kill people.

Nurses do.

I believe the term is "medical misadventure"

Originally posted by princeofpeace
Because Pancuronium has other uses than as an executant?

But it sounds good to call it that in a headline.

Originally posted by Biigs
Drugs dont kill people.

Nurses do.

The wrath of ATS nurses may be about to descend on you.

I get the point, which is good, but you might want to include doctors and pharmacists.

ATS members and their contempt for modern medicine should make this an interesting thread. Docterrs iz baad. Dey have learnins. I never goez to da doctors less i iz sick. Screw modern drugz, gimme a gallon of colloidal silver and mercury!

I am pretty disappointed that no one has bothered to comment or point out the blatantly obvious problem here. This issue has nothing to do with where the drugs were kept. It has nothing to do with an innocent mix up. This is clear example of sheer incompetence on the part ofthe nurse who administered the drug. From the article...

The nurse who made the fatal error was fined $2,700 and forced to undergo retraining after an internal review found the nurse on duty didn't read the label on the medicine, failed to scan it and failed to scan Mr Smith's patient ID bracelet.

the emphasis is mine. So it seems to me the real issue here is that this Nurse failed to follow procedure and failed to pay attention to what the hell she/he was doing. It's that simple.

With that being said I find it absolutely disgusting that this nurse basically killed someone solely due to her own negligence and the consequences are a complete joke. This guy's life was only worth $2,700? Really? What good does retraining this Nurse do if she decides to not follow procedure anyway?

scary as, more and more incidences of hospital negligence appear every day, difficult to tell whether they are on the rise or the proliferation of knowledge of them is.

Originally posted by MrWendal
This guy's life was only worth $2,700? Really? What good does retraining this Nurse do if she decides to not follow procedure anyway?

That is the scariest part...

And to that Jokek cat... maybe people will trust doctors more onece they stop PRACTICING medicine and actually do it

[snip]

reply to post by zorgon

maybe people will trust doctors more onece they stop PRACTICING medicine and actually do it

Are you really saying doctors should sex medicine? Lawsuits friend, lawsuits. Weird revelation. Are they called lawsuits because lawyers wear suits?

Also, do have issues with modern medicine. Also have issues with the utter hatred many members spew at it.

Also, laughed heartily at picture.

reply to post by mazzle


Exactly what I was thinking WHY does a hospital have this drug and HOW MUCH does this hospital have??? It makes you wonder about the "accidental" deaths.

reply to post by R3N3G4D3


Read the thread to get an answer to your question. It's not even a full page yet.

reply to post by mazzle
Pancuronium is a typical non-depolarizing curare-mimetic muscle relaxant. It acts as a competitive acetylcholine antagonist on neuromuscular junctions, displacing acetylcholine (hence competitive) from its post-synaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. It is (unlike suxamethonium) a non-depolarizing agent, which means that it causes no spontaneous depolarizations upon association with the nicotinic receptor in neuromuscular junction, thus producing no muscle fasciculations upon administration. Despite being a steroid, pancuronium has no hormonal activity. It exerts slight vagolytic activity (i.e. diminishing activity of the vagus nerve) and no ganglioplegic (i.e. blocking ganglions) activity. Pancuronium is a very potent muscle relaxant/curaremimetic. The ED95 (i.e. a dose causing a 95% reduction in muscle activity) is only 60 µg/kg body weight administered intravenously. Muscle relaxation suitable for intubation sets in about 90–120 seconds after administration of the drug. Full muscle paralysis for major surgery is achieved about 2–4 minutes after application. Clinical effects (muscle activity lower than 25% of physiological) last for about 100 minutes. The time needed for full (over 90% muscle activity) recovery after single administration is about 120–180 minutes in healthy adults, but can be protracted to more hours in poor health subjects and when concomitantly administered with other long-acting anesthetics (e.g., some opioids, barbiturates, inhalation anesthetics). The effects of pancuronium can be at least partially reversed by anticholinesterasics, such as neostigmine, pyridostigmine, and edrophonium.
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