Young Girl Given Blood Pressure Drugs Instead of Anaesthetic During Procedure

A five-year-old girl was left screaming in pain when doctors gave her blood pressure drugs instead of anaesthetic when she was stitched due to a leg gash in a horrible medical mix-up.

The foster mother of the young girl told Perth Now that her daughter was ‘screaming and wrestling’ doctors who were operating on her.

The incident happened in February after the girl fell into a branch in a bush while playing at home where she got a leg gash that needed stitches, and was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital.

She was injected several times with a dose of magnesium sulphate commonly used to treat high blood pressure or asthma. If used incorrectly, magnesium sulphate can cause abnormally low blood pressure and impact breathing.

The foster mother said: “They kept putting more and more of the magnesium sulphate into her…They said “she can’t feel it, she can’t feel it,” but I said, “she’s screaming!”‘

Doctors from Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, Western Australia, reportedly told the girl’s family that the medical mix-up was due to similar packaging and the medications being stored close together.

The girl was kept overnight for observation after the horrifying accident and recovered without any ill effects.

                                         Image source

The foster mother has spoken out about the incident, after a 60-year-old man died earlier this month as a result of a suspected ‘clinical incident’ from the same hospital.

Dr Robyn Lawrence, Chief Executive, of South Metropolitan Health Service told Daily Mail Australia that the matter has been reviewed, although they cannot comment on individual cases due to patient confidentiality.

“All hospitals, including Fiona Stanley Hospital, are absolutely committed to preventing clinical incidents including medication incidents, and to learn from such clinical incidents by taking steps necessary to avoid re-occurrence,” she said.

Australian Medical Association WA president Andrew Miller told Perth Now that there is a need for drug manufacturers to make labels clearer, and added that the Government needed to ensure hospitals were adequately staffed.

Sources: Dailymail.co.uk – Perth Now