Human Error Lands Infants in Graveyard

A tragic incident at the Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis claimed two newborn lives and rendered four infants in critical condition. The hospital authorities claim that the incident occurred unintentionally.

After receiving an adult dose of Heparin, a blood thinner, Emmery Miller, 2 days old and D'myia Alexander Nelson, 5 days old died on Saturday. While four other infants are still suffering from ill effects of the overdoseage, are said to be hozpitalized in critical but stable condition.

Born in their 25 and 26 weeks of gestation, the deceased babies could not withstand the huge influx of Heparin. Medically, babies below 34 weeks of gestation are classified as premature, normal pregnancy lasting 38 to 42 weeks. “Going by this logic they were very premature”, Sam Odle, chief executive of Methodist and Indiana University hospitals said.

Heparin, a blood thinner is administered in premature babies to prevent blood clots that could clog intravenous tubes. However, an overdose is known to cause uncontrollable internal bleeding.

Narrating the sequence of events that lead to the occurrence of the deaths, Odle, said, "A pharmacy technician with over 25 years of experience accidentally took the wrong dosage from inventory and stocked it in the drug cabinet in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit.”

Available in pre-measured vials, the medicine is stored in computerized drug cabinets by pharmacy technicians. Similar packaging of the adult and infant doses lead to the administration of the wrong dose, as nurses were accustomed to only one dosage of Heparin being available in the drawer.

On investigating the case, Indianapolis Police Department spokesman Sgt. Matthew Mount said, "They looked into it and determined that it was not anything intentional, and therefore not criminal.”

Taking measures to avoid occurrence of such tragic incidents in future, officials at Methodist are planning to ask the manufacturers of heparin asking them to look into for a change in packaging.