Hospital Apologizes Death of Child
A 7-year-old girl died Saturday after having surgery at Mercy Hospital due to
receiving the wrong medication.
After a tonsillectomy Tania Abbondanzia was given a half-milligram of
hydromorphone a stronger pain reliever than her prescribed morphine sulphate.
The pediatric nurse that administered the wrong medication mistakenly gave the
hydromorphone to Abbondanzia due to the drugs being beside each other.
Police are treating the death as accidental after discovering the cause of death, and
the nurse has been suspended pending completion of the investigation.
Abbondanzia was given the drug at 2:30 p.m. Friday and soon developed severe
respiratory problems and began to seizure
She was immediately transferred from the medical facility’s pediatrics ward to the
intensive care ward. Abbondanzia remained in a coma until Saturday morning
when doctors pronounced her brain dead. She was then taken off of the respirator
and died minutes later at 9:40 a.m.
Dr. Irwin Greenhouse, hospital administrator, stated in a press release that, “Our
sympathy goes out to the family, and we will stay close to them to provide support.”
The parents of the girl were unavailable for comment.
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