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- Pain Medication Overdose and Other Medication Erro...
- Children Receiving Inadequate Medical Care - Medic...
- Methodist Hospital Removes Wrong Kidney
- Methadone Overdose - Medical Malpractice
- Septic Arthritis: Malpractice Lawsuit
- Look-Alike and Sound-Alike Drugs Cause Mix-Ups
- Does Handwashing with Gel in Hospitals Prevent Inf...
- Minnesota Adverse Health Events Report
- Nursing Home Medication Error
- Heparin Overdose a Known Risk
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Welcome to the Pritzker | Ruohonen Legal Blog
Heparin Overdose a Known Risk
These deaths prompted the FDA to notify health professionals of the potential for life-threatening medication errors involving the two Heparin products:
- Heparin Sodium Injection 10,000 units/mL
- HEP-LOCK U/P 10 units/mL
Attorney Fred Pritzker has over 30 years of product liability and medical malpractice lawasuit experience and has recovered millions for clients. In addition to his many other accomplishments, he is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and a Certified Trial Specialist. In recognition of his accomplishments, he has been selected by other lawyers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America. Pritzker | Ruohonen is a national law firm and represents clients throughout the United States.
Posted November 2007.
Labels: Heparin, Heparin overdose, medication error
Medication Errors: Drug Labels Used for Clinical Trials
The way drug manufacturers label drugs used for clinical trials (“investigational drugs”) can lead to medication errors. The following is from the November 2007 Institute for Safe Medication Practices newsletter:- Many investigational drugs are labeled using a very small font size; in most cases, a magnifying glass is needed to read the information (see Figure 2 in the PDF version of the newsletter). The same font size is often used throughout the label, and there is little use of bold type, color, tall-man letters, or other strategies to help differentiate products. Thus, drug packages look remarkably similar, which can lead to confirmation bias when products are selected from the shelf.
- The labels may not include the drug strength or concentration, even if there are multiple drug strengths/concentrations in use.
- If the drug is involved in an international study, the directions may be printed in two or more languages on the same label. Labels may also include error-prone abbreviations or dose designations (e.g., 5IU, which looks like 51 Units, or trailing zeros [1.0 mg]).
Labels: attorney, clinical trial, drug trial, medication error lawyer
Medication Errors: Drug Names Used for Drug Trials

The way drug manufacturers identify drugs used for drug trials (“investigational drugs”) can lead to medication errors:
- If investigational drugs are identified using a number preceded by an abbreviation of the sponsoring company’s name (e.g., BMS104579 for a drug sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb), organizations that participate in multiple drug trials sponsored by the same company could confuse one drug with another sponsored by that company.
- If a letter/number designation on an investigational drug is too long (some are up to 25 characters long) or are described with multiple words, pharmacies may be forced to truncate the code name due to field size limitations.
- If a letter-number-code (see above) is used and then the investigational drug gets a generic or common name, the code name may remain on the product label while the research team refers to the drug by its new generic name. This could cause confusion on the part of the person administering the medication.
- If the sponsoring company is part of a merger or the sponsoring company or the product is sold, the code name could change—the abbreviation at the beginning of the code might change to the abbreviation of the new sponsoring company.
Information in the November 2007 Institute for Safe Medication Practices newsletter was used for this article.
Labels: clinical trial, drug names, drug trial, medication error lawyer
Medication Error: Insulin-Heparin Mix-up
When an infant is given insulin instead of heparin, the baby may experience hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar. Hypoglycemia occurs when a person's blood glucose (blood sugar) level drops too low to provide enough energy for the person's body's activities. Severe hypoglycemia can cause an infant to lose consciousness.
We encourage parents to be advocates for their hospitalized children. This includes knowing what medications the child is supposed to be getting and making sure that the child is indeed getting those medications in the correct dosages.
However, when something like the insulin-heparin medication error happens, parents need to understand that it is not their fault. It is the hospital’s responsibility to give patients the correct medication. Because evidence in a medication error case needs to be quickly gathered and preserved, it is important to contact a lawyer as soon as possible. To contact a lawyer at Pritzker | Ruohonen, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s online consultation form on the right-hand corner of this page.
Reference: Michael R. Cohen, "High-alert mix-up," Nursing (November 2007), Volume 37, No. 11: 12.
Labels: medication error lawyer
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Medical Malpractice Topics
Pain and Suffering
Rich Ruohonen recently chaired a legal seminar on obtaining compensation for pain and suffering in a personal injury case. Rich uses his knowledge, experience, and reputation to maximize recoveries for clients.
$950,000 Recovery for Failure to Diagnose Septic Arthritis
Pritzker | Ruohonen attorneys Fred Pritzker and Elliot Olsen recently secured a $950,000 recovery on behalf of a young man who developed septic arthritis eight days following knee surgery.
Pritzker | Ruohonen Newsletter
Pritzker | Ruohonen is now publishing its newsletters online. Sign up today to receive the newsletter via email. Read our newsletters: Feb/March 2008 and April/May 2008.
Dental Malpractice: Oral Surgery and Burn Injuries
The FDA has recently stated that poorly-maintained dental equipment has resulted in severe burns. These cases could involve both dental malpractice and product liability claims.
Hospital Malpractice Lawsuits
Hospital malpractice includes any type of medical negligence that occurs in a hospital setting, including errors by doctors, nurses, technicians and other hospital staff.
Neurosurgery Errors
Surgical errors are common and can lead to serious injury or death. In an article in the medical journal Neurosurgery that reported on a study of 1108 elective neurosurgical procedures, a neurosurgeon recorded 2684 errors in 87.1% of the cases. 22.6% of the errors were considered major. 78.5% of the errors were deemed preventable.

