OVERDOSE OF STRYCHNINE
FATAL MISTAKE IN A HOSPITAL'. By. Telegraph—Press Association. Chrlstchurch, December 18. As a result of an error made by Sis-* tor Ruth Ford at Christchurch Hospital yesterday in administering a doso of strychnine to a patient, James M'Ewan, a single man, aged 39, and lately a steward on the steamer Moeraki, met his doath. There were two solutions of the drug kept in separate bottles, one being a concentrated solution and the other a, dilute. The dose of the concentrated solution is about 25 minims, and that of the dilute half an ounce. By an unfortunate error the larger dose of the strychnine solution was administered, with fatal results. Deceased had no relatives in New ZeaTand. His parents live at> Deansgafce, Manchester, England. At an inquest held to-day, the Coroner (Mr. H. W. Bishop) asked Dr. Scott, Medical Superintendent of , the* Hospital, if he could' account for the extraordinary acoidenfc. • Dr. Scott replied that he could not, except, as Sister Ford says, one bottle was standing in tho place of the other ono. She should have noticed. She is a sister who took a tremendous lot of trouble with her patients. The Coroner: "If it is possible for & nurse under those conditions to make a mistake of that sort you have to be very careful, that is all I can say. It is a most unfortunate thing for the Hospital, unfortunate for the sister, and still moro unfortunate for the patient. These things do occur sometimes in an extraordinary, unaccountable way. I have the evidence of Dr. Scott that 'ho regards this sister as a very careful, experienced, and capable nurse, and yot she makes an inexplicable mistake of this sort. I cannot do other than find that deceased died from an overdose of strychnine administered in error by one Ruth Ford, sister in charge of Ward 4 at the Hospital. That is all I can do. I cannot find anything else. lam very sorry indeed that it has occurred."
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Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2955, 19 December 1916, Page 4
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333OVERDOSE OF STRYCHNINE Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2955, 19 December 1916, Page 4
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