ALLENTOWN, Pa. — State officials say nurses with an eastern Pennsylvania hospital system incorrectly programmed pumps that dispense pain medication, causing two patient overdoses.
The Morning Call of Allentown reports (http://bit.ly/JJqxth ) the errors came just weeks after staff at St. Luke's University Hospital Network were retrained following a pump overdose last fall.
A company statement says both overdoses were promptly reported internally. It says the hospital has reviewed its policies and retrained nurses responsible for the mistakes.
The Pennsylvania Health Department reported the two most recent cases this week but did not specify the hospital campuses where they occurred. Officials say the patients received 10 times the proper dosing, though both recovered.
The state earlier this year reported that pain pump errors at St. Luke's caused three patient overdoses between 2010 and 2011.
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Information from: The Morning Call, http://www.mcall.com