|
Intern's
Attempt to Diurese Service
Fails Miserably
Length
of stay increases; hospital administration seeks answers
NEW YORK,
NY - Dr. Michael Stevens, an intern at Beth Israel-Sinai Downtown Hospital,
has got a lot of explaining to do.
Officials
at HCFA say his actions were directly responsible for a near-doubling
of the hospital's Length-Of-Stay this past month.
 |
|
Dr.
Michael Stevens
|
Stevens,
according to reports, gave intravenous Lasix® (furosemide) in doses
ranging from 180-240mg to each of the twenty-two patients on his service,
the majority of whom had no indication for the medication. Many became
severely dehydrated and required aggressive fluid rehydration.
Stevens explained
that he was just "following orders."
"[Second-year
resident Jessica Teladi, MD] told me to diurese my service and so I did
it," he stammered during questioning by hospital authorities. "I
suppose I could have used hydrocholothiazide, but I heard Lasix was better."
Dr. Teladi
denied giving Stevens instructions to fluid-deplete his patients.
"I was
late for morning report, and I thought his service was getting a little
big," she began, "so as I ran off, I told him to discharge as
many patients as possible. That's about all I said."
When asked
specifically if she had told Stevens to "diurese" his service,
Teladi's jaw dropped. "Oh, my God... He really thought I... I mean...
Who the hell gives Lasix to twenty-two freakin' patients?!!"
Hospital
officials are working closely with New York State health authorities to
resolve the crisis.
|
