“It’s very frightening that this kind of stuff goes on and that this kind of harm is done,” she told the Southern California News Group. State inspectors issued immediate jeopardy citations to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center after a doctor mistakingly gave cancer drugs to 88-year-old Margaret Davis (Courtesy of Rosemary Davis) However, Rosemary Davis of Long Beach identified her 88-year-old mother, Margaret Davis, as the patient who was prescribed anastrozole. The CDPH report does not indicate whether Long Beach Memorial faces any civil penalties and does not list the names of the two patients involved in the incidents involving immediate jeopardy. Aside from the loss of Medicare accreditation, fines in California can range from up to $75,000 for the first violation, up to $100,000 for the second, and up to $125,000 for every third and subsequent violation. Immediate jeopardy involving imminent threats of serious injury or death is the most serious deficiency a medical facility can face and carries the most severe sanctions, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Long Beach Memorial received a “C” from Leapfrog in its most recent Hospital Safety Grades ranking. “It does not normally affect other consequences for harm that may have resulted from the problem … lawsuits or penalties from other regulatory agencies,” she said. “We will continue to monitor and assess the corrective actions to ensure that the hospital meets or exceeds all regulatory requirements related to the provision of patient care.”Īlthough Long Beach Memorial is no longer in jeopardy of losing its Medicare accreditation, it isn’t necessarily in the clear, said Leah Binder, president and chief executive officer of the Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C., organization that grades hospitals based on patient safety. “We have stringent processes in place to monitor quality, performance and patient safety,” she said. “The hospital did receive the findings from CDPH, which the hospital took very seriously.”Ĭorrective actions were immediately taken to ensure the safety of patients, Steele said. “Patient safety is our top priority, and we are deeply committed to providing the highest quality and safest care to our patients,” said Richele Steele, a spokeswoman for Long Beach Memorial. Within days, the immediate jeopardy designations were removed and the threat of losing Medicare accreditation was lifted after inspectors validated the hospital’s corrective action plan through staff interviews and record reviews. An alarm designed to prevent such falls by alerting staff when a patient leaves a bed had not been turned on. The patient sustained a fractured hip and was found on the floor by a nurse. The hospital’s second immediate jeopardy situation occurred March 12, when a patient with dementia and a history of falls attempted to walk unassisted in his room and tripped over a device used to prevent blood clots. The 33-page report does not say whether the quality of care the woman received at Long Beach Memorial contributed to her death. “This systemic failure led to a medication error that could potentially cause harm or serious adverse drug reactions to the hospital’s patients,” wrote California Department of Public Health inspectors, who spent eight days at Long Beach Memorial, in a confidential report obtained by the Southern California News Group. The woman died less than a month after she was admitted to Long Beach Memorial.

The first incident occurred in February, when an 88-year-old woman hospitalized for chest pain was mistakingly given two doses of anastrozole, a chemotherapy drug used to treat breast cancer, a condition her family says she didn’t have. During an anxious week in April, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center teetered on the brink of losing its Medicare funding after state inspectors uncovered a pair of dangerous incidents that put patients in immediate jeopardy of serious injury or possible death.

Long beach press telegram