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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The spokesperson for Tung Wah Hospital (TWH) made the following announcement today (April 11) on a medication incident of the hospital:
During a routine check of Phenobarbitone tablets before issuing to the ward on 8 April 2009, the pharmacy staff of TWH noticed a colour discrepancy of the pre-packaged medication. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Phenobarbitone 60mg tablets were pre-packaged instead of the intended Phenobarbitone 30mg tablets on 17 March. It has resulted in the intake of double dosage of the medication by six in-patients. The duration of the drug taking of the concerned patients ranged from one week to not more than three weeks. No out-patients were involved in this incident.
The six patients including three males and three females, aged from 34 to 78. They all suffered from neurological diseases. All Phenobarbitone tablets were recalled from wards for further checking. The patients concerned were immediately assessed by the clinicians with thorough body check up and they were found to be in stable condition. The incident has been explained to the patients' family and apologies extended by the doctor-in-charge on 9 April 2009.
One of the concerned patients, a 70-year-old female patient with neurosurgical disease who have been hospitalised at TWH for over half a year, passed away yesterday (April 10) morning. The case has been referred to Coroner for follow up. The hospital has expressed the deepest condolences to the family of the deceased patient and will provide the necessary assistance to the family. The other five patients are being treated in TWH under close monitoring and are in stable condition.
TWH is very concerned about the incident and has reported to Hospital Authority Head Office. A special panel will be set up to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident. The investigation report will be completed in six to eight weeks. If the incident was confirmed to have involved human errors, the hospital will act in accordance with the established human resource policy and will impose appropriate disciplinary actions. Immediately after the incident, the hospital management has already reminded all staff members to be vigilance and strictly observe the protocols on preparation of medications.
Ends/Saturday, April 11, 2009
Issued at HKT 23:29
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