Dental patients given ‘lethal’ doses of drug by mistake

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Eight dental patients received a potentially lethal dose of a sedative drug after a mix-up at the University of Colorado dental school, it has been revealed.

Dentists at the school were unaware that they had given the patients five times the recommended dose, after the drug was added to the school’s stock by mistake. The incident took place in 2008 and the mix-up wasn’t identified for thirteen days, the Denver Post exposed.

The blunder occurred as a result of dentists unknowingly giving patients high potency midazolam, a drug which is usually used as a sedative for people who are about to undergo surgery. The levels of midazolam were up to five times higher than they should have been and the consequences could have been disastrous; midazolam temporarily suppresses the central nervous system to prevent patients from experiencing pain but it carries warnings for slowing breathing and causing breathing difficulties.

After the blunder was identified, staff at the university’s dental school decided not to alert patients; the school’s dean, Dr Denise Kassebaum, said that she had not known about the incident until the Denver Post started asking questions. She also said that since the incident, procedures have changed and efforts have been made to ensure a similar incident does not occur in the future.

Dr Kassebaum said that none of the patients had experienced negative effects; however, Dr Michael Leonard, an anaesthesiologist, said that the blunder could have resulted in death. Dr Leonard also disputed Dr Kassebaum’s claims, saying that he would be very surprised if the drug did not provoke breathing problems in some of the patients.

The investigation is ongoing. 

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