A recent article by the Patient Safety Authority of Pennsylvania cited improper patient weight before giving out medication or anesthesia as a common error made by hospitals.

Too often when patients present to the ER, nurses and physicians fail to get an accurate patient weight.  Even though it is fairly simple to do, this critical fact is too often ignored, leading medical personnel to estimate a patient’s weight.  One of the most frequent and tragic consequences of the practice of “guestimating” weight is a medication error.  Most medications, particularly those intended to regulate the heart, prevent clots, or anesthetize patients are dosed according to weight.  That is why it is absolutely imperative for a weight to be taken and recorded.

We have reviewed and represented individuals who experienced serious adverse events due to medication errors.  Children and the elderly are the patient populations most frequently impacted by this preventable error.  (See the article by the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory).

If you or a loved one has developed unanticipated complications after receiving anesthesia or other medications, you may want to have your medical records reviewed by an attorney who focuses on medical malpractice.  Not every bad result is caused by medical malpractice, but until you have your medical records reviewed by an attorney with a medical background you may never know if your result was caused by negligence.