Singapore:
A 32-year-old Indian-origin doctor in Singapore has been fined 2,000 Singapore dollars for
administrating a drug to a patient in the wrong way at the Singapore General Hospital in July 2012.
The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) said Dr Garuna Murthee Kavitha injected the chemotherapy drug into the patient's spinal canal, rather than a vein. This could have caused the patient severe neurological damage, the Straits Times reported today.
In deciding on the sentence, the SMC's disciplinary tribunal took into consideration the fact that Kavitha, noticed the error immediately and she did not avoid responsibility.
It also noted that the ward at the SGH, where she was working at the time, had given her the wrong medicine which she did not check.
The doctor-in-charge ordered two chemotherapy drugs to be administered to the man who was admitted for a cancer relapse.
The drugs, Velcade was to be given intravenously and Methotrexate was to be injected into the spinal canal.
Kavitha, who was there to treat the patient, took the only syringe of Velcade in the room and injected into the man's spinal canal without checking the chemotherapy form which stated the medication should be injected into a vein.
On realising her mistake, she immediately called the senior doctor-in-charge.
In a statement released yesterday, SMC said it took note of the fact that Dr Kavitha was a young medical officer at the time. Her superiors, colleagues and the family of another of her patients testified to her strong work ethic and sense of responsibility.
The SMC's tribunal found her guilty of one charge of professional misconduct in April.
The SMC also stated that a financial settlement was made between the doctor, the hospital, and the family members of the patient who had since died.
"We would like to reassure our patients that we have since reinforced our processes to prevent such a case occurring in future," said SGH medical board chairman Professor Fong Kok Yong.