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Patient death leads to hospital education program

Quality Improvement Monitor, September 29, 2005

A legal settlement in a patient death will require a Seattle hospital to educate staff about the importance of labeling all medications, according to The Seattle Times.

Mary McClinton, 69, died last year after undergoing a procedure to repair a damaged blood vessel at Virginia Mason Medical Center.  McClinton was injected with an unlabeled fluid-which turned out to be an antiseptic-and died as a result.

In addition to the hospital's education efforts, the JCAHO under its 2006 National Patient Safety Goals will require all hospitals to label medication containers and solutions when procedures are performed.

Although McClinton's family is still mourning the loss, its primary focus is ensuring that medical mistakes such as this one don't happen again, the Times reported. The family established the Mary McClinton Foundation to honor her memory and advance medical and patient safety in general.

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