A medical malpractice lawsuit was recently filed by two heartbroken parents whose six-week-old son died at a hospital. While in the hospital’s care, the boy was given an intravenous solution that allegedly contained sixty times the prescribed dose of sodium ordered by a physician.

The baby boy had been born one month and nine days earlier at the same hospital. He was born premature, but the lawsuit says he was making strong progress toward normal health when a pharmacy technician made a fatal medication error and incorrectly prepared the baby’s IV fluid.

The parents claim that the IV bag was initially labeled correctly, indicating the very high level of sodium contained in the solution. At some point, though, a second label was placed over the correct one. The second label was inaccurate, and indicated that the bag contained the prescribed level of sodium.

When the nurse who administered the IV to the baby saw the IV bag, she was not aware that it contained a fatal dose of sodium.

The hospital has admitted that their error led to the overdose of sodium.

A spokesperson for the family said that the boy “…Should be a happy and healthy 6-month-old boy at home with his family today.” The parents had experienced several failed pregnancies that ended in miscarriages, but this pregnancy had finally been successful and their son was doing very well.

Medical malpractice is a unique type of personal injury. Pennsylvania hospital negligence attorneys know that in no other area of the law is there quite the same level of trust placed in a defendant as there is with a health care provider. This case is a prime example of how that is so. The hope of treatment and improvement, the hope of life itself, makes an injury all the more devastating when those hopes are dashed by the negligence of the very health care providers whose aid was sought.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times “Lawsuit says Park Ridge hospital’s negligence caused baby’s death” 4/6/2011