Newborn in Illinois Hospital Suffers Sodium Overdose, Dies 6 Weeks Later

A newborn has died after healthcare providers mistakenly gave the baby 60 times the normal amount of sodium in his IV bag during his stay at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital's neonatal ICU in Park Ridge, Ill., according to a local CBS news report.

According to the news report, physicians ordered to have the newborn checked after he received a blood test showing high amounts of sodium in his body, but no one had tended to the medical error. The newborn later went into cardiac arrest and died.

 

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The newborn's parents are filing a negligence lawsuit against the hospital, claiming the hospital's preventable medical error caused the baby's death. In response, Lee Sacks, MD, executive vice president of CMO Advocate Healthcare, said, "Our organization takes full accountability for the tragedy leading to the death of the baby, and has been transparent and disclosed everything we know about it in a commitment to improve care."

Read the news report about a medication error at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital.

Related Articles on Medication Errors:
Healthcare Experts Call for More Enforcement, Empowerment and Safety by Design
Medication Safety Self-Assessment to Track, Improve Safety
Children's Hospital in Denver to Implement Bar Coding for Medication Safety

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