Bend hospital death puts spotlight on medical errors

According to a study published in the Patient Safety Journal, each year 440,000 people in the U.S. die due to medical errors. That makes it the third-leading cause of death in the country.

“I would say medication errors in general are very common,” Bethany Walmsley, executive director of the Oregon Patient Safety Commission, told NewsChannel 21 Friday.

The annual report of the commission found that there were 651 medical errors reported in Oregon in 2013. Of those, 44 percent resulted in serious harm or death.

“You can see within that data how often medication errors are reported,” Walmsley said.

Twelve percent of medical errors reported in Oregon’s hospitals were due to a medication mistake. The top three medication errors in hospitals were: incorrect strength, medication or dosage.

In 2013, there were only four cases of incorrect medication reported statewide. How many of those errors were at St. Charles in Bend? There is no way of knowing.

“When something is reported to the Oregon Patient Safety Commission System, that is a confidential system,” Walmsley said.

Additionally, reporting to the Patient Safety Commission is voluntary.

“Only half the states in the United States even have an adverse event reporting program like Oregon does. And even with the voluntary nature of our program, we find that in many cases we are seeing even more reporting than those who are labeled mandatory,” Walmsley said.