Parents of a triplet who accidentally was given morphine are suing Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif., KTLA reports. The morphine was intended for the newborn's mother, Jessica Blischke, who had delivered the triplets prematurely by a Caesarean section in April 2009.
Instead, the drug was administered to newborn baby Taylee, while her mother held her, the lawsuit says, according to the Orange County Register. Both mother and child had IVs that were mixed up, according to state investigators.
After the baby was given 4 milligrams of morphine, her heartbeat dropped precipitously to dangerously low levels, the couple's attorney, Michael Brodie said. Doctors then had to intubate the newborn to control her breathing.
Initially, hospital staff accused Blischke of putting opiates into her baby's system. Only after tests were performed on the triplet and her two sisters did they realize they had made a mistake.
The California Department of Public Health already has taken action against the hospital, fining Mission $50,000 for the error this past May, according to KTLA. The hospital filed a corrective plan with the state to stop giving meds to mothers in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Mission Hospital officials called the incident "regretful,"in a statement released at the time of the mix-up, but noted that mother and baby were discharged healthy.
To learn more:
- read the KTLA article
- here's the Orange County Register story