In Copyright Since September 11, 2000
This web site is in no manner affiliated with any Kaiser entity and the for profit Permanente
Permission is granted to mirror this web site -
Please acknowledge where the material was obtained.

Story posted originally at: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/13117889.htm
Posted on Tue, Nov. 08, 2005 
 

Kaiser confirms third patient death

By Julie Sevrens Lyons
Mercury News

Kaiser Permanente officials on Tuesday confirmed a third case in which a patient at a South Bay hospital died after a medication error.

On Christmas Eve, a patient whose identity has not been revealed died as a result of a medication error at the Kaiser Santa Clara Medical Center.

Hospital officials raised the ire of state investigators not just because of the incident, but because they waited nearly a month to report it. The hospital, which alerted the state to the death on Jan. 20, was cited by the state for the late notification, according to Kaiser spokeswoman Alix Sabin.

``Kaiser Permanente has expressed its deepest regret and sympathy to the family for their tragic loss,'' Kaiser officials said in a written statement. ``We accept full responsibility for the medication error and have added additional safeguards to our pharmacy and medication practices -- particularly in the area of administration of high-risk medications.''

The Mercury News reported last week that a 12-year-old girl was mistakenly given a double dose of a drug at the same hospital in July, and that overdose may have caused her death. And 21-year-old Christopher Wibeto was inadvertently given another patient's chemotherapy drug at Kaiser Permanente-Santa Teresa in August. He died three days later.