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Patient’s family sues hospital for wrongful death

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, March 31, 2005

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The family of a patient who died as a result of a preventable medical error committed at Virginia Mason Medical Center has filed a lawsuit against the Seattle-based medical center, according to the Seattle Times.

Mary McClinton died in November, 2004, almost three weeks after a nonsurgical procedure to treat a brain aneurysm. Staff at the hospital injected McClinton with Chlorhexidine, a toxic cleaning solution, instead of saline or the radiological dye administered at the end of a procedure.

A week after the injection, hospital administrators e-mailed an explanation to hospital staff: the error occurred because Virginia Mason did not label the containers holding solutions. The memo also stated: "Many were aware of the hazard in the system that could lead to injection of the wrong solution and aware of a simple method to prevent this occurrence. No one took action to change the process before this tragedy occurred."

Before dying, McClinton suffered as doctors performed procedures, including amputating her leg, in an attempt to save her life, the Times reports.

Lawrence Kahn of Bellevue, the McClinton family's attorney, said the hospital rejected his settlement offer and made no counterproposal, which was shocking to the family. In a statement released yesterday, Virginia Mason said it approached the family and was "ready to proceed" with a settlement.

The hospital posted a public apology on its Web site after the error. Some expected the apology to deter a lawsuit, but apologies and disclosures of medical errors don't guarantee that a lawsuit won't be filed, said Thomas Gallagher, MD, a University of Washington internist who has stuided apologies and disclosures of medical errors. "Disclosure isn't a magic bullet," he said. "It's important, but it doesn't guarantee you won't be sued."

To read the complete Seattle Times article, click here.

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