Mum's eyes 'glued shut' after pharmacy gave wrong eye gel
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Mum's eyes 'glued shut' after pharmacy gave adhesive paste instead of eye gel
An elderly woman unknowingly 'glued her eyelids shut' when she applied dental adhesive paste that was dispensed by a hospital pharmacy. STOMPer Austin, her son, said she was supposed to be given eye gel for her eye problems.
Said the STOMPer:
"As shown in the pictures attached, my mother was prescribed Solcoseryl 20% Eye Gel but whoever was behind the counter gave her Solcoseryl DENTAL ADHESIVE PASTE instead.
"My mother does not understand English, and her eyesight is too poor to make out the words even if she did.
"I came home to find her complaining that it was difficult to open her eyelids and discovered to my horror that she had applied this paste to her eyes."
In a phone conversation with STOMP, Austin had verified that his mother's eyelids were glued shut because she had applied the dental adhesive paste.
He added:
"She had to have her eyes rinsed repeatedly. As it is, there is no telling if there is going to be any permanent damage from this mistake and she may very well had gone blind if nobody was home tonight.
"Please urge your readers to check and double-check anything that they are given by hospital pharmacies, especially if they have elderly parents."
According to the STOMPer, his mother brought to the hospital's A&E department, where she was given an eye irrigation treatment.However, the family is still waiting for a response from the hospital on the matter.
Source:
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/got_service_or_not/514298/mum_glued_her_eyes_shut_because_pharmacy_gave_dental.html
TS note: Given dental adhesive paste instead of eye gel to apply to the eyes. -
That's terrible!!!!
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Yeah pity her. The phramacist took the wrong medicine! =X
PRC staff at work???? Cant read English as well? -
i think nothing less than $100,000 of free credit at the hospital can appease this.
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How long more before this influx of FTs really hit locals hard "physical"? When they are really old and helpless, when all those hospitals are rife with incompetent and corruption? When will locals really wake up to this government sanctioned citizens genocide? I think by that time I no more eyes to see. Haiz.
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Sue the clinic and the hospital. This mistake is critical.
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The health minister will say this is a honest mistake and let us move on
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haha, maybe one day, i glue my teacher' eyes and run away for a while
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Mistakes are bound to happen as I observed on many occasions, pharmacy staff were chit chatting amoung themselves or with patients. It is always crowded and there is not enough seats. I suggest the non-prescription items on open shelves such health care items be removed from the pharmacy to create more space for seats.
Another point I like to raise is that the supervisor is not around to supervise his/her staff.
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I suspect BJK is the pharmacy staff who give the wrong medicine so he comes sgforum to defend himself
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Originally posted by Demon Bane:
Sue the clinic and the hospital. This mistake is critical.
Take action, dun let them "play around" your case! Get a lawyer and sue them! The mistake was unforgivable!
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'Deeply sorry for error': NUH apologises for giving woman wrong medication
NUH has apologised for dispensing dental adhesive paste instead of eye gel to an elderly housewife, which resulted in her right eye being 'glued shut'.
The hospital admitted that the incident was the result of an error on its part and that it will do its best to see through the housewife's recovery.
The incident was first reported to STOMP yesterday (Dec 14) by the 63-year-old patient's son, STOMPer Austin.
He said that his mother, Madam Pang Har Tin, was prescribed Solcoseryl 20% Eye Gel to treat a corneal abrasion she sustained during procedures performed at NUH, in a routine treatment for pre-existing eye conditions.
However, an error made at the NUH pharmacy resulted in her bringing home Solcoseryl Dental Adhesive Paste instead, an ointment to treat inflammation and wounds to the mouth.
The patient, who cannot read English, applied the medication, and subsequently found difficulty in opening her right eye. She was rushed to the accident and emergency department at NUH to have her eye flushed out.
NUH said in a statement yesterday:
"We are deeply sorry for Madam Pang Har Tin's experience which resulted from our error.
"Her well-being is our priority, and we have arranged for our eye specialist to review her on Wednesday. We will do our best to see through Madam Pang's recovery."
NUH also said: "The pharmacy staff involved have been counselled, and we have tightened our processes to minimise the risk of a similar error."
Eye specialists provided some insight into the incident.
Dr Esther Fu, an opthomologist from Gleneagles Medical Centre said:
"While the chemical mixture Solcoseryl itself will not cause major side effects, how it affects the eye depends on factors such as the acidity of this dental preparation and other compounds added."
Dr Christopher Khng, an eye surgeon at Gleneagles, said: "The thick, gritty texture of the dental paste could worsen the corneal abrasion, opening more area to bacteria infection. In a worst-case scenario, this could lead to vision loss."
He added, however, that severe side effects were unlikely as a paste would probably cause the individual to tear, washing the substance out of the eye.
Ms Christine Teng, vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore said that the main reason the error occurred was probably due to 'the products looking very alike, which led the wrong product being packed and dispensed'.
Source:
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/got_service_or_not/515268/nuh_apologises_for_giving_patient_dental.html -
No compensation? Just a deeply sorry for all that trauma and pain.
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
No compensation? Just a deeply sorry for all that trauma and pain.
Should at least waive all her expenses earlier on, plus free consultation for one year.
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Originally posted by Junyang700:
Ms Christine Teng, vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore said that the main reason the error occurred was probably due to 'the products looking very alike, which led the wrong product being packed and dispensed'.
Source:
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/got_service_or_not/515268/nuh_apologises_for_giving_patient_dental.html
It's human error... Why blame packaging? -
and indeed... really have...
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Originally posted by Junyang700:
'Deeply sorry for error': NUH apologises for giving woman wrong medication
NUH has apologised for dispensing dental adhesive paste instead of eye gel to an elderly housewife, which resulted in her right eye being 'glued shut'.
The hospital admitted that the incident was the result of an error on its part and that it will do its best to see through the housewife's recovery.
The incident was first reported to STOMP yesterday (Dec 14) by the 63-year-old patient's son, STOMPer Austin.
He said that his mother, Madam Pang Har Tin, was prescribed Solcoseryl 20% Eye Gel to treat a corneal abrasion she sustained during procedures performed at NUH, in a routine treatment for pre-existing eye conditions.
However, an error made at the NUH pharmacy resulted in her bringing home Solcoseryl Dental Adhesive Paste instead, an ointment to treat inflammation and wounds to the mouth.
The patient, who cannot read English, applied the medication, and subsequently found difficulty in opening her right eye. She was rushed to the accident and emergency department at NUH to have her eye flushed out.
NUH said in a statement yesterday:
"We are deeply sorry for Madam Pang Har Tin's experience which resulted from our error.
"Her well-being is our priority, and we have arranged for our eye specialist to review her on Wednesday. We will do our best to see through Madam Pang's recovery."
NUH also said: "The pharmacy staff involved have been counselled, and we have tightened our processes to minimise the risk of a similar error."
Eye specialists provided some insight into the incident.
Dr Esther Fu, an opthomologist from Gleneagles Medical Centre said:
"While the chemical mixture Solcoseryl itself will not cause major side effects, how it affects the eye depends on factors such as the acidity of this dental preparation and other compounds added."
Dr Christopher Khng, an eye surgeon at Gleneagles, said: "The thick, gritty texture of the dental paste could worsen the corneal abrasion, opening more area to bacteria infection. In a worst-case scenario, this could lead to vision loss."
He added, however, that severe side effects were unlikely as a paste would probably cause the individual to tear, washing the substance out of the eye.
Ms Christine Teng, vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore said that the main reason the error occurred was probably due to 'the products looking very alike, which led the wrong product being packed and dispensed'.
Source:
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/got_service_or_not/515268/nuh_apologises_for_giving_patient_dental.htmlsuch callous remarks to push the blame on the packaging.
No compensation too.
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ok, ty for the pic. I am going to shut my teacher eyes. haha, the whole class sure very happy de.
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Sue them lah....its a critical human error!