Hospital apologizes in death of patient

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

By CHRISTINE FREY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Virginia Mason Medical Center publicly apologized for a medical mistake that killed a patient yesterday and said it had taken steps to prevent future errors.

The patient, identified in broadcast reports as Mary McClinton, 69, of Everett, died about two weeks after she was mistakenly injected with an antiseptic solution used to clean the skin during a non-surgical procedure, said Dr. Robert Caplan, the Seattle hospital's medical director of quality.

She should have been injected instead with a safe dye used for X-rays, he said. The cleaning solution "acted as a poison" in the woman's body, Caplan said.

Doctors told family members about the mistake, Caplan said.

"We were completely forthright with the family about this error," he said. "I can't tell you how sad and apologetic we feel about the error. It's just an enormous personal tragedy for the patient, the family and all that knew her."

Virginia Mason investigated the incident, removing involved employees from their duties and bringing in safety specialists, Caplan said.

To prevent other mistakes, the hospital has retrained its employees on health care procedures and implemented the use of a non-liquid cleaning solution. It also sent out a memo to all its staff about the error. Those employees involved in the incident are back at work, Caplan said.

The hospital posted a letter on its Web site yesterday, saying that a medical error had killed a patient. While it was common for the medical profession to hide errors in the past, the hospital is trying to be more open about mistakes, Caplan said.

"We're taking a whole new approach and that is to face our errors squarely and find the most honest and immediate way to fix the process that caused the error," he said.

When asked if the woman's family planned to sue the hospital, Caplan said, "That hasn't been the focus of our discussions."

McClinton originally was hospitalized to repair a brain aneurysm. After the procedure, "things were looking good, but in reality when that plunger was pushed my mother's fate was sealed," Gerald McClinton, one of Mary McClinton's sons, told KING/5.

P-I reporter Christine Frey can be reached at 206-448-8176 or christinefrey@seattlepi.com This report includes information from The Associated Press.

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