Drug Topics - October 8, 2007 - (Page 18)

18 DRUG TOPICS OCTOBER 8, 2007 www.drugtopics.com Hospital Practice Mother claims hospital error kept her from newborn daughter Michael Barbella W ith her contractions coming every two to veyed her medical history to their colleagues in Denville. three minutes, Michelle Tattoli wasn’t sure The process, known as medication reconciliation, is she’d make it to the hospital in time to give conducted to avoid medication errors such as omissions, birth to her fifth child. duplications, improper dosing, or drug interactions. EMS technicians weren’t so sure, either. They rushed About half of all medication errors that occur in hospiTattoli to Saint Clare’s Hospital in Sussex Borough, tals and up to 20% of adverse drug events can be attribN.J.—a tiny 41-bed facility with no maternity depart- uted to poor medication reconciliation practices and proment—that is less than two miles from her home. There, cedures, according to the Institute for Healthcare she labored for seven hours before giving birth to a 7-lb., Improvement, a not-for-profit organization in Cam7-oz. baby girl. bridge, Mass. Within 24 hours of the “A reasonable medical faciliNov. 4, 2005, delivery, both ty within the state of New JerTattoli and her daughter, Ansey would have transferred nalyse Elizabeth Claire, were plaintiff’s medical chart to the transferred to the Denville, second facility, reviewed it, and N.J., campus of Saint Clare’s would have detected and Hospital, one that is better learned that plaintiff had been equipped to handle newborns administered Percocet,” the and their mothers. Tattoli, lawsuit states. however, didn’t get much time Tattoli was given Percocet to forge a bond with her new A lawsuit claims a medication reconciliation er- at Saint Clare’s Sussex camdaughter. Three days after ror by Saint Clare’s Hospital in Sussex Borough, pus, according to the lawsuit. N.J., led authorities to take a newborn baby girl Tattoli gave birth, the New from her mother. She was in labor for about sevJersey Division of Youth and en hours before delivering AnFamily Services (DYFS) took her daughter away from nalyse, and nursed the baby before the infant was transher upon learning that traces of the powerful painkiller ferred to the hospital’s Denville campus. Tattoli was Percocet (oxycodone HCl/acetaminophen, USP) had transferred to Denville late in the evening of Nov. 4, and been found in the infant’s urine. nursed the baby a second time. Though she was reunited with her daughter after Between the birth and the Nov. 6, 2005, discharge of nearly five months, the separation was almost too much Tattoli, tests performed on the baby revealed the presence for Tattoli to bear. The Wantage, N.J., woman said she of drugs in her urine. Rather than discuss the results of sank into a depression and lost 24 pounds during the those tests with Tattoli, hospital staff contacted DYFS and time Annalyse was in state custody. She is now suing the state removed Annalyse from her mother’s care, the Saint Clare’s Health Services Inc., claiming the hospital lawsuit charges. The two were separated from Nov. 7, system’s failure to transfer her medical chart between the 2005, until March 28, 2006. Sussex Borough and Denville facilities led to the interA spokesman for Saint Clare’s Health Services did not vention by DYFS. return a call seeking comment. “The medical chart created by defendants either was The lawsuit does not specify the tests that were pernot transferred to Saint Clare’s Denville hospital or was formed on Annalyse after her birth or the factors that led not reviewed at Saint Clare’s Denville hospital, and, as a Saint Clare’s to conduct a drug screening on her. result, plaintiff was separated from her newborn daughTattoli’s attorney, Michael A. Spero of Trenton, said ter,” states the lawsuit, filed last month in state Superior neither DYFS nor the hospital discussed the dose of PerCourt in Morristown, N.J. cocet she was given while she was in labor. The lawsuit claims Tattoli’s close to five-month sepaThe lawsuit accuses Saint Clare’s of negligence, saying ration from her daughter could have been avoided if the nurses could have determined the cause of drugs in Tatstaff at Saint Clare’s in Sussex Borough had clearly con- toli’s daughter by simply reviewing her medical chart. DT Photo: Michael Barbella http://www.drugtopics.com

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Drug Topics - October 8, 2007 Latebreakers Latebreakers in Depth Letters Rx Care Community Practice JP at Large 150 Years of American Pharmacy Hospital Practice Are You Getting Pharmacy's Message Across? Self-Care Government and Law Legal Q&A The Pharmacist as First Responder in Disaster Relief Technology Update New Products Advertisers Index Statement of Ownership Classified Viewpoint

Drug Topics - October 8, 2007

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