What Types of Conditions Is it Used For?
Chemotherapy is a standard therapy for many types of cancer. While some chemotherapies are delivered orally, many must be distributed through an IV. In some patients, chemotherapy drugs are injected into the spine or a specific body part.
Infusion therapy allows for the delivery of chemotherapy medications straight into your bloodstream. It also allows you to receive anti-nausea and other medicines without needing more needles.
Infusion therapy isn’t just for cancer, though. It’s also utilized in the treatment of:
- Autoimmune disorders
- Congestive heart failure
- Dehydration
- Immune deficits
- Infections that are unresponsive to oral antibiotics
- Pain
It can also provide effective medications for conditions such as:
- Crohn’s disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Lupus
- Psoriasis
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
It can also provide medications for a broad assortment of conditions. Here are just a few:
- Blood clotting elements for hemophilia
- Immunoglobulin replacement therapy for hypergammaglobulinemia
- A “cocktail” of drugs for migraine
- Corticosteroids and other medicines for multiple sclerosis
- Platelet-rich plasma for osteoarthritis
- Bisphosphonates for osteoporosis
- Insulin for type 1 diabetes
- Hypercoagulation conditions that can cause blood clots
Powerful infections such as cellulitis, pneumonia, and sepsis
Are There Any Health Hazards Associated with Drug Infusion Pumps?
Drug infusion pumps are associated with different health risks, including injuries due to:
- Software malfunctions or glitches
- Mechanical failure
- Wrong instructions (dosages, times, etc.)
- Product defects
In addition, drug infusion pumps are associated with a condition called chondrolysis. This is where the cartilage in the shoulder joint breaks down. This can result in extreme pain and stiffness in the shoulder and other joints.
What Can You Expect During Drug Fusion Therapy?
IV infusion therapy generally occurs in a clinical setting, such as a physician’s office, hospital, outpatient facility, or infusion center. Healthcare providers in the home can give some types of infusion therapy.
Each IV session means new needle sticks. So, if you’re anticipated to need numerous IV therapy sessions, your physician may suggest alternatives to a standard IV line. Central lines can be inserted into your chest, arm, neck, or groin and stay for an extended time.
Medication Errors
Medication errors law is a subset of medical malpractice law that can result in painful and enduring injury or death. These kinds of mistakes can happen at any point while specifying, prescribing, and administering medications. It can be administering the wrong drug, prescribing the wrong dose of a medicine, harmful interactions with other medications that shouldn’t have been prescribed together, and miscellaneous other mishaps, errors, and issues related to medication.
The most common mistakes are those made by the nurses and physicians when administering medication, although pharmacy error contributes to this issue.
Medication mistakes are answerable for over a million fatalities or severe injuries in the U.S. each year. These mistakes are preventable in nursing homes, outpatient facilities, hospitals, clinics, and surgical centers.
Medication reconciliation is an essential policy for dealing with the heightened dangers present during transition periods of medical care, such as admissions, transfers, and releases from hospitals and other medical establishments. It dictates a thorough comparison of patient medication orders in these circumstances to bypass dosing mistakes, drug interactions, duplications, omissions, etc.
Sometimes, something as simple as deficient handwriting on a prescription pad can result in a pharmacist or hospital team member dispensing the wrong drug or dosage of the proper medication.
Drug interactions have several “filters” before getting to the patient. Both the doctor and the issuing pharmacist must validate that the prescribed medication will not have an unfavorable interaction with any other medications. Nurses must monitor hospital patients for potential adverse drug reactions and be free to question if they are aware of any potential bad drug interactions with patient medication.
Despite these preventive actions, medication mistakes still happen. Medication mistakes can cause injury, extend a patient’s hospital stay, and, at worst, result in death. It is estimated that medication mistakes cause over 7,000 deaths yearly.
Diagnostic Errors
Diagnostic mistakes can include either a complete failure to diagnose or a false diagnosis. A failure to diagnose is occasionally referred to in the medical community as a “No-Fault Error,” where the disease is asymptomatic or demonstrates the symptoms of a much more familiar condition.
Systemic mistakes happen when some part of the medical system introduces errors into the process. A typical example of systemic mistakes includes transcription errors on lab results, poor handling practices, insufficient supplies, and failure of staff to alert doctors to report results promptly.
Finally, and most commonly, are cognitive mistakes or poor doctor determinations. These decisions can be based on insufficient data collection, wrong symptom interpretation, faulty reasoning, or preliminary knowledge. These can often be traced back to doctors lacking knowledge outside their specialty, failing to observe diagnostic protocols, or failing to consult specialists earlier in a treatment cycle. Diagnostic mistakes usually fall on a doctor’s shoulders, although inaccurate or insufficient data from nursing and support staff can contribute.
Surgical Errors
Unfortunately, mistakes happen all too often during surgery. They vary from leaving sponges or instruments inside a patient to conducting the wrong surgery.
Surgical mistakes have several sources, including exhaustion, miscommunication, or outright recklessness. Surgical mistakes can cause substantial pain and suffering, requiring repeated follow-up surgeries, with each surgery leaving a patient predisposed to infection and other hazards. In the worst-case scenario, surgical errors lead to death.
Wrong-Patient Errors
These mistakes transpire when a patient’s record is lost. If a chart is switched accidentally, patients can obtain the incorrect treatment, leaving their actual medical condition untreated. This can lead to severe side effects or even death.
Recorded events for this mistake include wrongfully obtaining chemotherapy and wrong surgical remedies. Failure to adequately account for charts can materialize from nursing understaffing. Medical mistakes frequently devastate patients and their loved ones regardless of how they happen.
If you think you or a loved one has suffered a hospital mistake, a personal injury lawyer can help you understand your rights.
What If I Have a Legal Claim Involving a Drug Infusion?
Drug infusion pumps and their corresponding injuries have been the subject of various legal claims. These generally result in a damages award to compensate the plaintiff for losses caused by the injury. These lawsuits can involve multiple legal theories, including negligence and product defects (manufacturing, warning label, and design defects).
Do I Need a Lawyer for Assistance With Drug Infusion Injuries?
Drug infusion injuries can sometimes be serious, and legal action may be needed to resolve a dispute. You may need to hire a defective products lawyer in your area if you need any advice, legal information, or representation for your claim.
Your attorney can assist you in filing with the court and guide you through the court process from beginning to end of your case.
