Corporate Healthcare and Social Responsibility

Corporate Healthcare and Social Responsibility Genesis Burkett was born on September 26, 2010 three weeks before the expected date. During his admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit he was administered sodium intravenously in a dose 60 times normal. As a result, blood tests that day indicated abnormally high levels; these were brought to the attention of the physician. The doctor ordered him checked but eight hours later, nothing had been done in response. At the age of six weeks, Genesis suffered a fatal heart attack (CBS News, 2011). The parents of Genesis Burkett have filed a lawsuit against the hospital and staff claiming negligence because of avoidable human error. The executive vice president of CMO Advocate Healthcare, Dr. Lee Sacks, said, "Our organization takes full accountability for the tragedy leading to the death of the baby, and has been transparent and disclosed everything we know about it in a commitment to improve care" (CBS News, 2011, para. 1). The Burketts' attorney, Patrick Salvi Sr., said, "A simple mistake could have been picked up several times along the way, by a pharmacist, then by a doctor, and they were not, and as a result, a little baby that was well on his way to recovery died." (CBS News, 2011, para. 1). According to a study by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, at least 1.5 million individuals suffer from by medication errors each year (Institute of Medicine, 2006). Medication errors are the most common of type medical errors in healthcare facilities. The report goes continues that the extra expense to treat injuries related to mistakes in drug administration in hospitals alone amounts to approximately $3.5 billion yearly, not including figures for wages and productivity lost or additional costs of health care (Institute of Medicine, 2006).
Medication Errors The