 |
|
Bone Marrow Failure From Medication Error: Diagnosis by History, Not Biopsy
Arch Intern Med. 2001;161:1911-1912.
|
|
| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings. |
|
|
|
The increasing number of medical errors in today's complex health care
environment is a worldwide problem. It is estimated that between 44 000
and 98 000 Americans die each year because of medical errors, which is
more than the number of deaths from motor vehicle crashes, breast cancer,
or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.1
Medication errors alone are estimated to account for 7000 of these deaths
annually in the United States, which is more than double the number in the
early 1980s.2 We report a fatal case of
bone marrow failure (fatal despite early diagnosis and treatment) due to the
inadvertent administration of methotrexate.
Report of a Case
An 81-year-old widowed woman was found on the floor by a neighbor. She
was too weak to stand and was transported to the emergency department. She
was in her usual state of good health until 9 days prior to admission when
she began to develop oral ulcers and odynophagia, which . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Comment
|
