Q. I am a type 1 diabetic. Last year I went to the hospital because I had ruptured a spinal disk. As I lay in the ER in excruciating pain, my wife and I gave my history and my current drug usage (which was already in the hospital electronic medical record). I supplied the details at least three more times.
During the week before and after back surgery, my blood sugars climbed–not just a little, as was to be expected from trauma, but as high as 700 mg/dl. Even through a Vicodin haze, I knew I wasn’t getting enough insulin.
I was finally admitted to the ICU for intensive insulin therapy. I later learned that on at least three days, my Levemir insulin injection was not given, and on the day of the surgery, no insulin at all was administered.
My own physician found this care appalling. Another doctor said blood sugars that high could trigger stroke, among other things. I was astounded the hospital said no mistakes were made. Now that I’m reading your book, it seems par for the course.
A. We are shocked, but errors in care during hospitalization are not rare. A study in 2010 showed that one in five hospital patients suffered harm and 40 percent of the problems could have been avoided (New England Journal of Medicine, Nov. 25, 2010). A government study that year found 180,000 Medicare patients die each year because of health care gone awry (HHS, Nov. 2010).
We include a safe patient checklist in our book, Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them (PeoplesPharmacy.com). One of the most important tips is to bring an advocate who can be assertive on your behalf. Double-checking medications is also crucial.
