Cancer Patient Dies in Edmonton After Pump Gives Drug Overdose
Posted on: Thursday, 31 August 2006, 15:01 CDT
EDMONTON (CP) - An official with the Alberta Cancer Board apologized Thursday to the family of a cancer patient who died after getting an overdose of chemotherapy drugs.
Dr. Tony Fields told a news conference that the woman's death last week from multiple organ failure and internal bleeding is "a most unfortunate incident."
The woman in her 40s was sent home July 31 with medication from a day clinic at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton. But the pump administering the dosage had been incorrectly set to do so over a four-hour period rather than over four days.
Fields said findings of an external investigation by the Institute of Safe Medical Practices will be released, but he anticipates that will take at least two months.
He said it's important to maintain the confidence of the public, especially patients who may be receiving similar treatment.
"We will do our best to help patients that have doubts and fears, and to counsel them," said Fields, the cancer board's vice-president of medical affairs and community oncology. "We feel that the greater importance is for our patients to know that if we slip, we will not hide it.
"We hope to maintain the bond with our patients."
The wife and mother of three teenagers died Aug. 22 at the University of Alberta Hospital. Her family requested she not be identified until after her funeral scheduled for Thursday.
The woman had nasopharynx cancer, where the cavity of the throat and nose meet. She had already received radiation and chemotherapy.
"Her cancer was advanced but it was not beyond cure," Fields said. "She was being treated with the expectation of a cure."
Source: Canadian Press
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