Poor penmanship costs doctor $380,000

[TexasTowelie]

SAN ANTONIO — A local physician whose illegible handwriting led to the fatal overdose of an elderly patient was ordered by a civil court jury Thursday to pay $380,000 in damages to the woman's family.

Dr. Flavio Alvarez, a kidney specialist, initially had prescribed 10 millimoles of potassium to dialysis patient Dalia Hernandez, 72, who was admitted to Northeast Baptist Hospital in November 2011 for amputation of a toe on her left foot.

Three days after that procedure, her right foot also had to be amputated.

Alvarez changed his mind about the dosage, intending to increase it to 20 millamoles, testimony during the weeklong trial indicated.

However, instead of scratching out the original amount on the form or starting over, he attempted to write a “2” over the “1,” the doctor acknowledged.

More at http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/health-care/article/Jury-Doc-s-sloppy-handwriting-factored-in-fatal-4866905.php .

[gopiscrap]

1. Yikes, no wonder those nuns were always smacking me around

when they saw my handwriting.

[safeinOhio]

2. I suffer from Dysgraphia,

so I print important things.

[Warpy]

3. That's why there is a push to make these guys punch their orders directly into the computer

It's reduced transcription errors a lot.

My own handwriting is illegible, even I can't read it once it's cold, a combination of working in hospitals for 25 years and mild neurological problems from a broken neck. I think the former was worse than the latter.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Dr's handwriting has been a joke for decades...

...but what's funny about writing gibberish that only one person can decipher when that script means life or death for someone? EMR is the only TRUE answer for this.

[Mojorabbit]

5. Still, I cannot believe any pharmacist filled that order

and it amazes me that a nurse gave the med. I wouldn't have. It is obviously a fatal dose. A clusterfk all the way around.