Medical Errors in Children
When medical mistakes happen to children it is especially upsetting since they have little voice in their treatment options. In the case of medical treatment in children we rely on the medical establishment to know what the best course of action is and accurately execute the treatment. For instance, a 6-year-old boy went into surgery for a wandering eye. When he came out he was crying hysterically, vomiting and screaming “I wish I was dead,” according to his mother. When she tried to get more pain and anti-nausea medication for her son the nurse insisted that she calm him down before he disturbed anyone. The nurse thought he was simply throwing a tantrum. After a certainly agonizing 20 minutes another nurse walked by and the mother asked her for help. The second nurse checked the intravenous line in the boy’s ankle and saw that it was inserted incorrectly and was not dispensing any medication. She immediately fixed it and brought the boy pain and nausea relief quickly. Medical mistakes can have more serious consequences in children, doctors say. A study in the journal Pediatrics in April found that problems due to medications occurred in 11 percent of hospitalized children and that 22 percent of them were preventable. Children are also the victims of diagnostic errors, incorrect procedures or tests, infections and injuries.
