Health Man died from drug mix-up after routine knee surgery, coroner hears Counsel says inquest will hear evidence Paul Lau died from drug overdose after knee reconstruction Counsel assisting Kirsten Edwards said there were more than 15 missed opportunities to catch the prescription error. Photograph: Arno Massee/Getty Images/Science Photo Library RFA man died at a Sydney hospital after he was given another patient’s medication following routine day surgery, a New South Wales coroner has heard. “It probably strikes fear in the heart of anyone who might be going for routine day surgery,” she said. Lau’s anaesthetist, Dr Orison Kim, told the court he was using the hospital’s new electronic prescribing system on the day of Lau’s surgery. Kim believed it likely that he went back in to Lau’s record to update his prescription before his attention was brought back to the current surgery.

Source: The Guardian February 05, 2018 05:13 UTC