Attorney Charles Jerome Ware is renowned and consistently ranked among the best attorneys and legal counsellors in the United States. [GQ Magazine, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, The Columbia Flier, USA TODAY, The Howard County Sun, The Anniston Star, The New York Times, et al.]
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Alabama native Sharron Juno, age 59, died because of a "typo".
A lifelong diabetic, Juno had her insulin dosage dictated by her doctor in Alabama but transcribed by an outsourced sub-contractor in India, who wrote “80” instead of “8.”Juno passed away after receiving a dose ten times what it should be.
The jury’s anger at the defendants – Thomas Hospital in Fairhope, Ala. and the outsourcing companies it contracted with – drove the $140 million verdict, said a lawyer who represented the plaintiff’s family.
On March 18, 2008, Ms. Juno was discharged from Thomas Hospital. Unbeknownst to her treating physician, the Discharge Summary he dictated was outsourced by the hospital and ultimately transcribed in Mumbai, India and New Delhi, India. The transcript contained three critical errors, including the dosage of Levemir insulin, which was written incorrectly as 80 units rather than eight (10 times the prescribed dose). The hospital violated its own procedures and multiple national patient safety standards by using the unreviewed, unsigned Discharge Summary to write admission and medication orders for Sharon Juno's admission to a local rehabilitation facility.
Shortly after her admission to the rehab facility, on March 19, 2008, Ms. Juno was given a fatal dosage of insulin based on the admission paperwork the hospital had sent to the rehab facility. The medication caused an irreparable brain injury that resulted in cardiopulmonary arrest. Sharon Juno never regained consciousness and died on March 27, 2008.
Beginning in 2007, Thomas Hospital authorized its U.S. based outsource transcription vendor — Precyse Solutions, LLC — to use overseas transcription in India to save 2 cents per line. Through a series of subcontracts, the actual transcription services were moved to India and performed by Medusind Solutions, Inc. in Mumbai and Sam Tech Datasys in New Delhi. Testimony at trial revealed that U.S. based employees of Precyse were highly critical of the poor accuracy of the transcription work performed overseas by Medusind and Samtech. Instead of instituting better quality control procedures, these employees were replaced with overseas reviewers. Consequently, no one in the United States reviewed the transcripts for critical errors before they were provided to Thomas Hospital.
Even after the death of Sharron Juno, Thomas Hospital continued its relationship with the transcription company for two more years.
[lawyersusaonline.com/blog/12-21-2012/ "Anger Over Outsourced Medical Errors Yields $140 Million Verdict"; www.marketwatch.com/story/ "Jury Holds Hospital & Transcription Company Responsible For Fatal Medication Error: $140 Million Verdict"; www.indiawest.com/news/12-28-2012/ "Indian Firms' Transcription Error Leads to $140 M Judgment"]
Very sad case which highlights the dangers of outsourcing medical services and how simple mistakes can have grave consequences. I would be very interested if anyone has seen a similar case in Australia. Thanks for the article - Medical Negligence Claims.
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