danielle
11-21-2002, 04:19 PM
Medication error leads to inmate deaths in Oklahoma
Toxicology reports confirm LARC inmates given wrong medicine
Two inmates at the Lexington Regional Assessment and Reception Center died in September after being given the wrong medication, Department of Corrections officials confirmed Thursday.
Charles Cobble, 48, and Edgar B. King, 43, died within days of each other at Oklahoma City hospitals after becoming ill at the prison, DOC spokesman Jerrie Massie said.
The deaths occurred apparently because of mislabeled medicine, resulting in both men being given prescriptions for a cancer drug rather than a drug for high blood pressure, Massie confirmed.
“Apparently the drug they were given knocks down the immune system and infection sets in,” he said.
Toxicology reports were received on both men Thursday, confirming what officials feared had happened, Massie added.
He said an internal investigation was launched when King died Sept. 16 and Cobble died Sept. 19, and it was discovered then that the two men might have been given the wrong medication.
Massie said all inmate prescriptions for the drug prescribed to both King and Cobble were tracked down and checked following the men’s deaths.
“Those two prescriptions were the only ones found to be filled with the wrong medication,” Massie said.
An investigation into the men’s deaths is ongoing, he added. “This has been terrible, and we want to ensure that nothing like it happens again.”
Massey said prison officials immediately looked into the prison’s procedures for filling prescriptions and have made changes in the procedure since the September incidents.
In the past, he said, one pharmacist would fill a prescription and be in charge of handing it out to an inmate. Now, Massie said, one pharmacist fills a prescription and a second pharmacist double-checks it.
DOC records indicate Cobble was serving time on a charge of assault and battery with intent to kill at the time of his death while King was serving time for charges of knowingly concealing stolen property and making a false declaration to a pawn shop.
Toxicology reports confirm LARC inmates given wrong medicine
Two inmates at the Lexington Regional Assessment and Reception Center died in September after being given the wrong medication, Department of Corrections officials confirmed Thursday.
Charles Cobble, 48, and Edgar B. King, 43, died within days of each other at Oklahoma City hospitals after becoming ill at the prison, DOC spokesman Jerrie Massie said.
The deaths occurred apparently because of mislabeled medicine, resulting in both men being given prescriptions for a cancer drug rather than a drug for high blood pressure, Massie confirmed.
“Apparently the drug they were given knocks down the immune system and infection sets in,” he said.
Toxicology reports were received on both men Thursday, confirming what officials feared had happened, Massie added.
He said an internal investigation was launched when King died Sept. 16 and Cobble died Sept. 19, and it was discovered then that the two men might have been given the wrong medication.
Massie said all inmate prescriptions for the drug prescribed to both King and Cobble were tracked down and checked following the men’s deaths.
“Those two prescriptions were the only ones found to be filled with the wrong medication,” Massie said.
An investigation into the men’s deaths is ongoing, he added. “This has been terrible, and we want to ensure that nothing like it happens again.”
Massey said prison officials immediately looked into the prison’s procedures for filling prescriptions and have made changes in the procedure since the September incidents.
In the past, he said, one pharmacist would fill a prescription and be in charge of handing it out to an inmate. Now, Massie said, one pharmacist fills a prescription and a second pharmacist double-checks it.
DOC records indicate Cobble was serving time on a charge of assault and battery with intent to kill at the time of his death while King was serving time for charges of knowingly concealing stolen property and making a false declaration to a pawn shop.