Dennis Quaid's Twins in Medical Nightmare

41 posted on 11/21/2007 2:48:23 PM PST by Woodman ("One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives." PW)

To: CharlesWayneCT

Although the statistic is likely Crap. In my experience, Doctors do not usually admit mistakes.

42 posted on 11/21/2007 2:51:44 PM PST by Woodman ("One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives." PW)

Giving 10 cc instead of .1 cc

Actually, that would be giving 100cc, instead of .1cc - or 10cc, instead of .01cc

Mark

43 posted on 11/21/2007 5:05:59 PM PST by MarkL (Listen, Strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government)

I will always remember the professors blunt response:

“You calculated the concentration of that hormone at 10 times thecorrect level. If you had been dealing with a human being and a drug you’d probably have KILLED the patient!”

Those d-arned decimal places REALLY do matter!

You're not kidding... I got into a bit of trouble in an inorganic chemistry class in college, when trying to "hurry" a reaction, I used 10 molar acid, rather than the .1 molar that the professor called for... BIG MISTAKE! Thank goodness for lab hoods. Pyrex will explode.

Mark

44 posted on 11/21/2007 5:16:26 PM PST by MarkL (Listen, Strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government)

I was being sarcastic. In actuality, 10,000 u of heparin from the stock bottle is 2 cc, as it comes in 5,000 units/cc strength. In order to get gown to a 10 unit dose, one must take the stock solution and dilute it with saline, then one can actually get the proper dose in a measurable volume. to get 10 units out of a stock solution, the volume contained just in the needle itself and hub of the needle is too much, as the hub and needle contain approximately .05 cc, which is still 250 units.

If you took (for example) .1 cc of the stock solution (500 units) and placed that in a 9.9 cc vial of saline, then you would have 50 units per cc, from which you could take out .2 cc and administer it as a dose of 10 units. In this case, mistaking .2 of the mix for 2 of the stock solution would indeed give them the results they achieved.

It is all in the dilution. The point i was attmepting to make was that someone was simply not paying attention to what they were doing, and either mixed wrong, or used the stock solution, thinking it was mixed, or simply did not understand that it had to be diluted....not understanding the ramifications of injecting a baby with 10,000 units of an anticoagulant.

45 posted on 11/21/2007 5:18:51 PM PST by going hot (Happiness is a momma deuce)

ps, that is why the Doctor usually has to sign off on that shiite. They are supposed to be sufficiently trained to not make mistakes like that.

46 posted on 11/21/2007 5:22:32 PM PST by going hot (Happiness is a momma deuce)

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