Recent flu mailing may have been result of labeling error
Patient Safety Monitor Alert, April 20, 2005
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An Ohio laboratory made headlines last week when it inadvertently sent a virulent strain of influenza to laboratories across the world. The mistake may have been caused by a labeling error, according to a Cincinnati Post article. The case highlights the importance of properly labeling and storing medications, a JCAHO patient safety goal.
According to Jared Schwartz, MD, of the American College of Pathologists, Meridian Bioscience may have sent out the flu samples by accident. The flu strain, which caused a pandemic in the 1950s, was sent as part of a kit used by laboratories to test their identification processes, according to the Post.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered the receiving labs to immediate destroy the flu samples, and most facilities have complied. The Japanese flu strain sent to the labs is similarly labeled to a Shanghai strain that was slated for inclusion in the kits.
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