Failure to Understand Allergy Leads to Woman’s Death
A patient was undergoing a procedure in a hospital when she had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic being administered, causing cardiac arrest. She was successfully resucitated and her surgery was rescheduled. Amazingly, the surgeon, who was the same surgeon present at the time of the original cardiac arrest, insisted that the patient get the prophylactic antibiotic and the anesthesiologist present and the nurse anesthetist present lacked the courage to refuse. The drug was administered. The patient died.