Noteboom The Law Firm

Veterans exposed to incorrect drug doses

VA medical centers around the country have had major issues with their electronic records system since being upgraded last August.  

The VA's recent glitches involved medical data - vital signs, lab results, and active meds - that sometimes appeared under another patient's name on the computer screen. Records also failed to clearly display a doctor's stop order for a treatment, leading to reported cases of unnecessary doses of intravenous drugs such as blood-thinning heparin.

In one case, a patient having chest pains at the VA medical center in Durham, N.C., was given heparin for 11 hours longer than necessary as doctors sought to rule out a heart attack.

There is no evidence that any patient was harmed, even as the VA says it continues to review the situation. The VA said there were nine reported cases in which patients at VA medical centers in Milwaukee, Durham, N.C., and Marion, Ind., were given incorrect doses, six of them involving heparin drips for patients with chest pain. The other cases involved infusions of either sodium chloride or dextrose mixtures that were prolonged for up to 15 hours past the doctor's prescribed deadline.

The goal of electronic medical records nationwide is to help avert millions of medical mistakes attributed in part to paper systems, such as poorly written prescriptions. But health care experts say the VA's problems illustrate the need for close monitoring.

Dr. Bart Harmon, a former Pentagon chief medical information officer who helped coordinate the government's electronic records system from 1997 to 2007, cautioned that the VA's problems could become more common as more hospitals and doctors' offices move toward electronic records.

The VA noted that veterans with questions or concerns can request a copy of their medical record at any time, such as via the "My HealtheVet" online system at http://www.myhealth.va.gov.