Duke Medical
Jesica's Story One mistake didn't kill her--the organ donor system was fatally flawed | |
|Avery Comarow. U.S. News & World Report. Washington: Jul 28, 2003. Vol. 135, Iss. 3; pg. 51-54, |
|Abstract (Article Summary) |
|Teenager Jesica Santillan died as the victim of an elementary and inexcusable medical mistake: her heart-lung transplant had gone wrong |
|because her blood type and the donor's did not match. Given the basic flaws in the system exposed by Jesica's story, it's remarkable that |
|there have not been more deaths. |
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|Full Text (6769 words) |
|Copyright U.S. News and World Report Jul 28, 2003 |
|Last November 18 marked the kickoff of Duke University Medical Center's first Patient Safety Week. Posters went up. Patients filled in |
|cards, detailing their medical conditions and medications. The staff was instructed on how to report safety-related problems. Everyone was |
|upbeat. Duke was taking concrete steps to deal with the growing national problem of preventable hospital errors. Less than three months |
|later, 17-year-old Jesica Santillan was dead, the victim of an elementary and inexcusable medical mistake: Her heart-lung transplant had |
|gone wrong because her blood type and the donor's did not match. The tragedy grabbed the national imagination, because Jesica's parents had |
|been told of miracles performed at Duke and had risked illegally crossing the Mexican border to bring her to one of the world's leading |
|transplant centers.
|Avery Comarow. U.S. News & World Report. Washington: Jul 28, 2003. Vol. 135, Iss. 3; pg. 51-54, |
|Abstract (Article Summary) |
|Teenager Jesica Santillan died as the victim of an elementary and inexcusable medical mistake: her heart-lung transplant had gone wrong |
|because her blood type and the donor's did not match. Given the basic flaws in the system exposed by Jesica's story, it's remarkable that |
|there have not been more deaths. |
[pic]
|Full Text (6769 words) |
|Copyright U.S. News and World Report Jul 28, 2003 |
|Last November 18 marked the kickoff of Duke University Medical Center's first Patient Safety Week. Posters went up. Patients filled in |
|cards, detailing their medical conditions and medications. The staff was instructed on how to report safety-related problems. Everyone was |
|upbeat. Duke was taking concrete steps to deal with the growing national problem of preventable hospital errors. Less than three months |
|later, 17-year-old Jesica Santillan was dead, the victim of an elementary and inexcusable medical mistake: Her heart-lung transplant had |
|gone wrong because her blood type and the donor's did not match. The tragedy grabbed the national imagination, because Jesica's parents had |
|been told of miracles performed at Duke and had risked illegally crossing the Mexican border to bring her to one of the world's leading |
|transplant centers.