Wrong Penicillin Given to 650 Patients

[struggle4progress]

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - More than 650 people inadvertently received the wrong kind of penicillin after contracting syphilis or being in contact with someone who may have the disease, the Centers For Disease Control reported.

Use of the wrong drug by the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center began in January 1999 and continued until the error was discovered a year ago. <snip>

The problem was discovered after a patient read a package insert stating the medicine he received was not intended for the treatment of syphilis. <snip>

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/94-03112005-461957.html

So --- READ THOSE INSERTS!

[merwin]

1. Heh... nobody reads the fine print. That's how * got elected.

[bilgewaterbill]

2. 5 years?!

No one discovered this error for 5 years? Someone needs to go to jail for this.

[TahitiNut]

3. I'd be willing to bet ...

... the pharmaceutical supplier knew.

[yo-yo-ma]

4. per the article

they were distributing bicillin c-r not bicillin l-a (which is the CDC recommended treatment)

as much as i like to see pharmaceutical hubris, i don't think that's what's at work here.

rather a simple error that nobody picked up on - probably a clerical/ordering error . . .

hospitals and larger outfits do hever oversight systems, a small place like this doesn't

[bilgewaterbill]

5. A 5 year clerical error?

Why didn't a doctor catch this? Or a pharmacist?

[bilgewaterbill]

6. A 5 year clerical error?

Why didn't a doctor catch this? Or a pharmacist?

[yo-yo-ma]

7. as stupid as it sounds

maybe no one thought to look

the MDs there are maybe only volunteering on a half day a week kind of thing basis , the manager may not know anything about medicine
it's a small operation with a big heart but . . .

this doesn't scream conspiracy to me -- just stupidity

[bilgewaterbill]

9. I just hope no one suffers from this. nt

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[burrowowl]

10. Was the sypillis cured?

Or did they think the unlucky bastards got it again?

[struggle4progress]

11. Unfortunately, the primary symptoms go away whether you're cured or not.

[burrowowl]

12. Yikes!

So people can think they are cured and the syphilis is dormant and they can go into stages 2, 3, 4 (death where it has attacked the brain badly).
Not good!