Brazilian Nurse Accidentally Injects Coffee Into Patient
A student at a Brazilian medical clinic accidentally injected coffee into a patient’s IV, a mistake which resulted in the woman’s death. According to Gawker, the nurse in-training allegedly mistook the beverage for the patient’s IV fluid.
Although most people would be quick to apologize and express their deepest regret for making such a terrible mistake, 23-year-old Rejane Moreira Telles took a decidedly different approach to the situation.
“As [the feed and blood drips] were next to each other, anyone can get confused. I injected the coffee and I put it in the wrong place,” the medical student explained during an appearance on a Brazilian TV show.
During the interview, Telles revealed that she had not been properly trained to perform such a procedure. She and two other nurses have been indicted for involuntary manslaughter for their role in the 80-year-old woman’s death.
Horrifically, the victim’s daughter was in the room when the coffee was introduced into her mother’s veins. “I saw my mother was agitated, she opened her mouth, and this youngster put coffee with milk into the vein’s of my mother. Half a glass,” she explained.
What happens when someone injects coffee into your body? According to the New York Daily News, the victim would experience something along the lines of suffocation. In other words, it’s not an easy way to go.
Mistakes made by hospital personnel are a problem all across the globe. The American Association for Justice explains that preventable medical errors are the sixth biggest killer in the United States. In fact, the only thing deadlier than mishaps at the hospital are heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, and old-fashioned accidents. In 2003 alone, over 181,000 serious injuries were caused by medical mistakes.
Do you think the nurse who accidentally injected coffee into her patient should be tried for involuntary manslaughter? Do you feel safe when you visit the hospital?
