Dangerous ER diagnosis

Siblings receiving the wrong medication has left the children’s mother fearing the possibility of this happening to other children in the future.

Edenvale resident and mother of two, Mrs Colleen Joel Salgado, told of her frightening ordeal experienced at Roseacres Life Hospital casualty and Life Bedford Gardens Hospital casualty, which resulted in her 11-year-old son being admitted to hospital and her four-month-old baby being misdiagnosed.

“I took my son, Kyle Dean Michael, to Roseacres casualty after he experienced chest problems on August 26. I spent most of the evening in the ER. My son was seen by a doctor who diagnosed him with a respiratory tract infection. There was a little girl in the cubicle next to us also waiting for her medication. The doctor took my son’s prescribed medication and labelled it for the little girl in the next cubicle and gave my son the medication prescribed for the little girl,” said Ms Salgado.

“My husband then went to the pharmacy at Roseacres seeking the prescribed medication for my son and even there the mistake was not picked up. My husband left Roseacres because they didn’t have the medication that was prescribed. He then went to another pharmacy and it was there my husband was told he couldn’t be given that medication because the prescribed medication was for another child,” said Ms Salgado.

“As a result, my son ended up being taken to hospital and booked into a paediatric ward during the early hours of the morning after suffering an asthma attack. He was in that ward for the rest of the week. Not only was the wrong prescription given because of negligence, but the doctor made the wrong diagnosis after I told him my son had had an asthma attack before and it could be that.

“He assured me it was a respiratory tract infection. I asked the doctor to prescribe asthma pumps as well. He said no because the medication he prescribed does not require pumps and that the prescribed medication would work,” said Ms Salgado.

“In the second incident, I took my second son, four-month-old Gabriel Salgado, to Life Bedford Gardens Hospital casualty on January 4. He was coughing terribly and battling to breath. I told my husband I was not taking any chances. The on-duty doctor diagnosed him with a respiratory tract infection after checking his nose and lungs and gave me a prescription. I was told that Bedford Gardens Hospital does not keep the medication as the pharmacy was closed. I was told to go to the Linksfield Hospital as they have a 24-hour pharmacy.

“The pharmacist there then informed me that the prescribed medication the doctor at Life Bedford Gardens Hospital had given me could not be used on infants. The pharmacist said the medication was for children who are 2 years or older. I told myself I was not going to go through this again and give my child the wrong medication. He is only four months old. What if something happens to him?” asked Ms Salgado.

“The next morning, in a panic, I phoned my children’s paediatrician and she informed me to bring my son in for a check-up. When I met with her, I informed the doctor of the medication I was given. I also told the doctor of my concerns after what had happened with my first-born. She said the medication I was prescribed for my new-born absolutely could not be used on infants. The only medication I could have used was the nose spray. She conducted her own check-up and diagnosed my son with croup and referred me to an ENT if the problem recurs.

The medication prescribed to Gabriel was Demazin S2 liquid for children who are two to three years old. It should be taken every three or four hours.

“This is two different hospitals, separate scenarios and times and it makes me ask, are the doctors in casualty actually caring about our children? How can they be diagnosing our children, giving them medicine while working under another doctor’s practice that you never see? I was crying thinking about what if they had given my 4-month-old son that medication. What would have been the repercussions? My first son landed up in hospital because of this issue. We should not have to worry about our children falling ill or dying because of a misdiagnosis or medication labelled for the wrong person. Not everything can be blamed on a respiratory infection. I don’t want any money from the two hospitals, I don’t want an apology letter, I just want the hospitals to fix the problem and ensure this does not happen again” said Ms Salgado.

“Dr Evelyn Gordon of Life Bedford Gardens Hospital contacted me about the matter concerning the doctor in casualty, stating that she had received a report from the doctor who attended to Gabriel. Dr Gordon said she was very sorry about what had happened. She said she had given a written warning to the prescribing doctor and taken some of his shifts away,” said Ms Salgado.

Roseacres Life Hospital and Life Bedford Gardens Hospital both referred the NEWS to Life Healthcare Group for comment.

Chief operation executive for the inland region for Life Healthcare Group, Mr Lourens Bekker said, “Although Life Roseacres and Life Bedford Gardens hospitals belong to the same group, the accident and emergency units at these two hospitals are managed by two independent doctor practices. There is no association between the two practices. Life Healthcare contracts third party doctor practices to manage its accident and emergency units, as private hospitals in South Africa are not permitted by the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (HPCSA) to employ doctors directly.”

“A binding service level agreement with rigorous clinical governance processes is in place with each of these doctor practices to ensure that certain standards are met, which includes the investigation and resolution of complaints. Until this point, Life Healthcare has been satisfied that both practices have complied with the quality standards set. After comprehensive investigations of each separate situation raised by Ms Salgado, by our independent clinical directorate, Life Healthcare, is comfortable with the corrective actions and measures instituted by these practices. We sincerely appreciate that Ms Salgado brought her experiences to our attention which allowed us to advise both doctor practices to take preventative action. If Ms Salgado is still not satisfied with the assurances received, she is welcome to contact the HPCSA, who ultimately governs all doctors in this country, for a further review,” said Mr Bekker.