15 December 2015 (Tuesday) - Unsung Heroes

Here’s an interesting article I found in Facebook (of all places) over brekkie:


It is no great scientific article, but it told the tale of the importance of the hospital laboratory.

A patient (on oral anticoagulation) had massive bruising. This bruising was put down to poor venesection technique. However laboratory testing showed a ridiculously high INR and subsequently it transpired that the patient had been massively overdosed by a mistake in the pharmacy.

The lab identified the problem, saved the day, and possibly the patient’s life.
It is a shame that this sort of thing never makes the newspapers….

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