AvMA case study: George's story

Summary

This article tells to story of the events that led to the death of a patient named George from an avoidable medication error in December 2012. George slipped and fell in his garden in October 2012, badly hitting his head. He was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a subdural haematoma–when blood collects between the skull and the surface of the brain. After successful life-saving surgery at King’s College Hospital, George was moved to a ward to recover.

George suffered from osteoarthritis and had been taking the anti-inflammatory medication naproxen to manage this for some time, accompanied by omeprazole to protect the stomach lining. As he recovered in hospital, he was prescribed his normal naproxen, but was not given the omeprazole to go with it. By the time the hospital stopped the medication, approximately one month later, George had developed severe bleeding and ulcers in his stomach. George’s condition worsened and he died on 4th December 2012.