AN AWFUL MISTAKE

Temuka Leader, Issue 2588, 30 November 1893, Page 3

AN AWFUL MISTAKE

The following appears in a northern contemporary : —Another poisoning case, this time from Caterton, by misadventure on the part of the doctor attending the patient. Mrs Sunnex, a patient of Dr Dickson's, was ill from bronchitis, and taking medicine for it. At the same time Dr Dickson was attending one of her sons for a bad toe, for which he prescribed a belladonna and glycerine liniment. In sending out the two medicines the doctor transposed the labels, with a fatal result —as the newspapers said, 'an awful mistake.' Although everything was done in the way of emetics, stomach pump, and hypodermic injections, all were of no aavil, and after lingering about 24 hours death closed the scene, Says the Wairarapa Daily : —' At the inquest the coroner commented strongly on the evidence, and said it was gross carelessness on the part of any medical man to dispense a poisonous drug without affixing a poison label to the bottle, and he had no doubt but that death resulted from belladonna poisoning.' The verdict was, ' Died from heart disease, accelerated by belladonna poisoning,' with a rider,' That all poisonous drugs should be labelled poison.' Dr Bey, of Greytown, who assisted Dr Dickson to restore the unfortunate victim, in his evidence said, ' That a doctor was not obliged to put on a poison label, but a chemist and, drue - - gist was obliged to do so,' \{ a is correct the sooner Compulsion is brought to bear on the doctor the bettor for his patients. In like manner he is not bouud(by any legal enactment) to do his best for his patients, but every possible reason compels him to do so, and the same reason should compel him to use every means to prevent his patient losing his life through any accideiit which common sense and humanity could have prevented. What a shocking commentary on ' doctor's dispensing ! ' No poison bottles, no poison labels, no desire to ensure safety because no compulsion. We can easily imagine all the rest. The above reminds me of a poisoning case that happened many years ago from a doctor's surgery in Sheffield, England. The doctor filled up a medicine bottle from a pint measure of liq. morphia, which he thought was water. The poisonous solution was put into the wioii<» bottle a:id the patient died—that was all.