According to this recent research report, approximately 15 percent of medication errors that resulted in harm to the patient involved cardiovascular medicines. Overall, cardiovascular medicines were involved in almost 25 percent of all medication errors. The majority of these errors occurred within surgical and intensive care units.
In total, over 95,000 deaths within the United States each year are attributed to medication errors. Additionally, each year another 1.5 million individuals suffer from a reaction to medication errors. While the majority of these incidents involve heart patients, medication errors can be found in all patient areas.
Within the hospital setting, nurses are often the ones distributing medications. Due to the many aspects of their jobs and patient care, they can easily become distracted and make a mistake. However, when the mistake involved medication, it can be a costly mistake as far as the patient is concerned.
Fortunately, hospital malpractice is not a common occurrence within Massachusetts's hospitals. However, it can and does happen. When a patient suffers or dies as a result, there may be legal recourse available through the Massachusetts legal system.
Source: cardiovascularbusiness.com, "Medication errors more common with cardiovascular drugs than other drug classes", Tim Casey, Jan. 27, 2017
