Ace of Spades HQ

January 20, 2010

In People's Republic of MA, you don't get vaccine, vaccine gets YOU!
— Purple Avenger

People were supposed to get H1N1 shots, but were given insulin instead. Details, details, details. Whiners.

...While ABC News contacted people at the departments of health for the town of Wellesley and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the Wellesley School District, it remains unclear how the flu vaccine, which is distributed in pre-filled syringes, was mistaken for insulin, which is drawn from a vial because each dose needs to be calibrated when it is given.
Such errors have happened before...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 07:06 AM | Comments (78)
Post contains 105 words, total size 1 kb.

1
C'mon, when has a little insulin overdose ever killed anyone?

Posted by: Dang Straights at January 20, 2010 07:08 AM (fx8sm)

2 Wow, I smell an avalanch of lawyers descending.

Posted by: Vic at January 20, 2010 07:08 AM (QrA9E)

3 Good lord - these staffers are lucky that got by with just a low blood sugar episode - if a non-diabetic takes insulin it can shut down the body very quickly if the dose is large enough. Apparently the people in charge of sticking needles in people can't even bother to read labels now?

Posted by: Ryan Frank at January 20, 2010 07:09 AM (pHEb9)

4
Apparently the people in charge of sticking needles in people can't even bother to read labels now?

I'm gonna go way out on a limb here and guess that they're union members.

Posted by: Dang Straights at January 20, 2010 07:10 AM (fx8sm)

5 Government run health care at its best.

Posted by: The Drunken Consesrvative at January 20, 2010 07:11 AM (iaWNX)

Somebody's gonna get fired.

Posted by: katya at January 20, 2010 07:12 AM (oQ3+p)

7 The system worked.

Posted by: Hamilton Burger at January 20, 2010 07:15 AM (UmOcE)

8 Apparently the people in charge of sticking needles in people can't even bother to read labels now?

Or the labels were in English.

Posted by: HeatherRadish at January 20, 2010 07:15 AM (mR7mk)

9 "C'mon, when has a little insulin overdose ever killed anyone?"

Ahem. 'member me?

Posted by: Sunny von Bulow at January 20, 2010 07:15 AM (92zkk)

10 I'm gonna go way out on a limb here and guess that they're union members.

There's a lot of unionized nurses in MA. That's a distinct possibility.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 20, 2010 07:16 AM (GtZU2)

11 Holy law suit. I hope she didn't give the diabetic kids the flu vaccine, too.

Posted by: loppyd at January 20, 2010 07:16 AM (tG+m6)

12 Oh man, I'd love to bring this lawsuit. Is there such a thing as attempted negligent homicide?

Posted by: leoncaruthers at January 20, 2010 07:17 AM (PH0UW)

13 Meh - H1N1 vaccine, insulin. They're both clear liquid, both in a syringe, both have to be shot into a body. Same same.

Posted by: Intrepid at January 20, 2010 07:17 AM (92zkk)

14 You're missing the larger picture. It was FREE and available to EVERYONE.

Posted by: Hamilton Burger at January 20, 2010 07:18 AM (UmOcE)

15 Maybe we need to color code drugs, and use little cartoon characters on the labels rather than hard stuff, like words.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 20, 2010 07:18 AM (GtZU2)

Who needs death panels?

Posted by: Hamilton Burger at January 20, 2010 07:19 AM (UmOcE)

17 Another example of why "healthcare" should not be delivered in schools.

Posted by: tank at January 20, 2010 07:19 AM (6tCmr)

18 "Maybe we need to color code drugs, and use little cartoon characters on the labels rather than hard stuff, like words."

Ok, so I can see Porky Pig on the H1N1 vaccine, but which one for the insulin? The really fat "Hossenpfeffer!" king?

Posted by: Intrepid at January 20, 2010 07:20 AM (92zkk)

19 Some one is going to get PROMOTED!

Posted by: rawmuse at January 20, 2010 07:20 AM (3vcxs)

20 Quality healthcare that you can afford? Not so much.

Posted by: Fritz at January 20, 2010 07:20 AM (GwPRU)

I thought H1N1 had pretty much burnt itself out already, too, at least here on the west coast. Is there another wave of it making the rounds now?

Posted by: Who Knows at January 20, 2010 07:20 AM (0aQsc)

22 Wow. They are incredibly fortunate nobody died.

Posted by: McLovin at January 20, 2010 07:20 AM (RwvN1)

23 Good God. I knew someone who killed herself using insulin. Idiots.

Posted by: Shannon at January 20, 2010 07:21 AM (H37Qn)

24 Damn, if I were to get a shot of insulin I would be out like a light. I do ultra-lowcarb so I have the absolute minimum sugar in my blood.

Posted by: RobD at January 20, 2010 07:21 AM (sV3Dv)

I believe the syringes were filled with Tea Party Kool aid or something.

I'm going back to RINO hunting in Florida.

marcorubio.com

Posted by: mghorning at January 20, 2010 07:22 AM (Z6IN2)

26 Mongo Like Insulin.

Posted by: Mongo at January 20, 2010 07:22 AM (nz654)

27 Got to put your swine flu where the Insulin can fix it

Posted by: Mjim at January 20, 2010 07:23 AM (V8B//)

28 I blame Scott Brown, and he is making the markets crash today too.

Posted by: Pallid Stool at January 20, 2010 07:23 AM (F/4zf)

29 Is there another wave of it making the rounds now?

They got warehouses full of the crap they're trying to get rid of now. The panic caused a LOT of overproduction. Internationally, countries have been dumping their stockpiles on the open market for $.30 on a dollar to try and recover something.

In another couple of months, they'll just be dumping it down the drain.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at January 20, 2010 07:24 AM (GtZU2)

30 Shut up you useless eaters. That's why.

Posted by: Ezekiel Emmanuel at January 20, 2010 07:24 AM (e8YaH)

31 Is there another wave of it making the rounds now?

Walgreens and CVS in the Midwest have signs promoting a heavy discount on the H1N1 vaccine. They listened to Uncle Sam for supply side advice instead of listening to their customers.

They're practically saying "Buy 1 h1n1 vaccine and get one free."

Posted by: WTFCI at January 20, 2010 07:25 AM (GtYrq)

32 I know it's serious, but this made me laugh, because it sounds like something that would happen to me.

Posted by: Who Knows at January 20, 2010 07:27 AM (0aQsc)

33 I walked by a Walgreens the other day and they had signs out front pushing the shots. Kept on walking.

Posted by: RobD at January 20, 2010 07:28 AM (sV3Dv)

I have a friend who got the H1N1 at a CVS in Rhode Island. He asked the guy how much, and the guy said to him, "It's OK. Come back and pay us next time."

So yeah, they're literally giving it away.

Posted by: Ezekiel Emmanuel at January 20, 2010 07:28 AM (e8YaH)

Well since nobody was injured that leaves the truly sad story.

No root cause analysis will ever be done. It will simply be a series of finger pointing from one dept to another and nobody taking responsibility.

The lawyers will sue and the State will settle. The only people held accountable will be the tax payers of MA. This is what really pisses me off about government screwups.

Nobody ever accepts responsibility or is ever held accountable.

Posted by: Vic at January 20, 2010 07:28 AM (QrA9E)

36 Fucking moron reporter no less.

A dose of anything is not 'calibrated' a dose is measured.

Measuring devices get calibrated.

Posted by: ThomasD at January 20, 2010 07:28 AM (21H5U)

37 I wonder what the Attorney General of Massachusettes position on this matter will be?!

Posted by: Joy to the whirled at January 20, 2010 07:29 AM (WVBjj)

38 I thought H1N1 had pretty much burnt itself out already, too, at least here on the west coast. Is there another wave of it making the rounds now?

Various government agencies (not just in the US) keep putting out press releases claiming it's about to GET YOU ALL BOOGA-BOOGA but it hasn't actually materialized. It's almost as if the whole thing were an attempt to create a crisis for Axelrod and co to exploit.

Posted by: Ian S. at January 20, 2010 07:29 AM (p05LM)

What ever happened to the Swine Flu? I thought it was supposed to kill us all.

How many more times can the media cry wolf? Swine Flu, Avian Flu, West Nile Virus, SARS, Salmonella Tomotoes, Eggs good, Eggs bad,etc. How much longer until no one believe them?

Posted by: Ben at January 20, 2010 07:30 AM (wuv1c)

40 If you dumbass roundeyes would just buy our counterfeit insulin that's just normal saline you wouldn't have adverse reaction problems like this.

Posted by: China at January 20, 2010 07:30 AM (GtZU2)

Mercy. The article indicated that the dosing method isn't even the same btween the two! That should have been a clue to double check. I dunno if this is a labeling problem or what - but somebody needs to apply some thinking power to this issue. Color codes for the most common injectables might be a good start (I'm not in medicine, so if this ground has already been covered please forgive).

I've learned the hard way that relying on people to cognitively understand what's going on each time they carry out a task is a mistake. You're begging for errors. Better to make things impossible to screw up or, failing that, to use signals that even the lizard-brain/unconscious can pick up on and throw up red flags.

Posted by: Reactionary at January 20, 2010 07:30 AM (xUM1Q)

42 The road to paradise has many bumps.

Posted by: Adolf Hitler at January 20, 2010 07:30 AM (27iEn)

moron reporter no less.

A dose of anything is not 'calibrated' a dose is measured.

Measuring devices get calibrated.

They're so cute when they try to be smart.

Posted by: katya at January 20, 2010 07:32 AM (oQ3+p)

44 Well, it's better than France's anthrax laced heroin.

Posted by: Clovis27 at January 20, 2010 07:33 AM (h43q2)

What ever happened to the Swine Flu? I thought it was supposed to kill us all.

How many more times can the media cry wolf? Swine Flu, Avian Flu, West Nile Virus, SARS, Salmonella Tomotoes, Eggs good, Eggs bad,etc. How much longer until no one believe them?

The U.S. is no better than the people of Haiti in these matters. The neurotic soccer-mom generation needs somebody to tell them what to think and fear. They will continue to believe the media. Oh, they will have moments of clarity but will always, inevitably fall back to sheep status.

Posted by: katya at January 20, 2010 07:35 AM (oQ3+p)

The neurotic soccer-mom generation needs someone to tell them what to think

That's Oprah Winfrey's job, isn't it?

Posted by: Who Knows at January 20, 2010 07:40 AM (0aQsc)

47 All your healthcare...belongs to us?

Posted by: TEH WON at January 20, 2010 07:41 AM (5qJM5)

48 Wow, that's really bad. Not to mention all the paperwork that's going to have to be filled out. Seriously, they are lucky no one had an adverse reaction.

Posted by: runningrn at January 20, 2010 07:44 AM (CfmlF)

49 You know who this benefits? Mitt Romney.

Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at January 20, 2010 07:44 AM (9Sbz+)

50 Ain't government run health care just great! Now just try and sue!

Posted by: GarandFan at January 20, 2010 07:44 AM (ZQBnQ)

51 H1N1 was not pre-loaded into syringes when I got mine at a county facility here in Illinois.

So that part of the story is possibly wrong.

Still.. How many shots did she give and never looked at any of the bottles??? Yikes.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at January 20, 2010 07:45 AM (f9c2L)

Give me one of those syringes for this stupid ass brat of mine! I'll give his shitty little ass a happy birthday....

BWAHAHA... BWAHAHAHAHAHAA! Oh, where's Kenyan Daddy at NOW??

Posted by: Mama Obama at January 20, 2010 07:47 AM (gbCNS)

53 Nice followup to the 900,000 doses of childrens vaccine they tried to recall after it had been given to your children. Families now have 900,000 children who got the shot but probably aren't protected. B HO is making thousands of Boo Hoo's. But then lefftest uneducated elitest college rejects who never ran a business or held a job are running the country, not business men who were successful in business.

Posted by: Scrapiron at January 20, 2010 07:50 AM (GkYyh)

54 How much longer until no one believe them?
Posted by: Ben

Right about the time that we actually need to listen to them.

Posted by: Rickshaw Jack at January 20, 2010 07:54 AM (kS68+)

55 52 H1N1 was not pre-loaded into syringes when I got mine at a county facility here in Illinois.

So that part of the story is possibly wrong.

Still.. How many shots did she give and never looked at any of the bottles??? Yikes.

Mine was from a multi-dose vial here in WA, but it's possible that it is available in single dose syringes..

Posted by: runningrn at January 20, 2010 07:54 AM (CfmlF)

56 This explains yesterday. Instead of the "flu shot" (Coakley), the voters accidentally pulled the lever for "insulin" (Brown).

Posted by: Chrissy Crybaby Matthews at January 20, 2010 07:55 AM (0aFA4)

57 Just like "swine flu" deaths jumped from 400-500 to 10,000 in a month. Why anyone would look to the government for anything heath related is frightening. I blame bush..and that teabagger scott brown.

Posted by: evil libertarian at January 20, 2010 07:56 AM (YEKtC)

58 41 Even China label more instructions better be.

Posted by: AE at January 20, 2010 07:56 AM (kSfPT)

59 Oh, and this is going to sound terrible, but if the nurse was alone, and there were a bunch of antsy kids, it's quite possible she never checked the labels. She just assumed that what she was giving them was what it was supposed to be. It probably never dawned on her that there was a possibility that it could be anything else.

Posted by: runningrn at January 20, 2010 07:56 AM (CfmlF)

60 THE FAR LEFT'S DAYS OF CONTROL ARE NUMBERED

FOR THE FAR LEFT AND OBAMA,

Â“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.Â”

http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/EndoBegn.html

NOV 2010 is THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR THE FAR LEFT AND OBAMA.

NOV 2012 is THE END FOR THE FAR LEFT AND OBAMA.

Go Team America!

Posted by: Anti-Harkonnen Freedom Fighter at January 20, 2010 07:56 AM (5r0Tz)

61 Don't worry, the individual responsible will be reassigned.....

To your local ObamaClinic. It'll be FREE!

Posted by: Techie at January 20, 2010 08:03 AM (zbH+i)

62 This is really disturbing.

Seems like this would have been kind of difficult to screw up.

So... were the people administering this complete idiots (if so, why are they dealing with medicine?) or is this just the governments way of culling the herd?

Posted by: shibumi at January 20, 2010 08:10 AM (OKZrE)

63 Awwww, that's sweet.

Posted by: Xoxotl at January 20, 2010 08:12 AM (12sFn)

64 Holy shit, the thread at the top disappeared. Ace, drink some water before messing with the blog.

Posted by: Rahm at January 20, 2010 08:22 AM (RD7QR)

65 Thirty plus years ago, when I went to nursing school, they taught us to read what was on the vial. Maybe they don't do that anymore.

Posted by: huerfano at January 20, 2010 08:22 AM (kJLH9)

66 Wow, a total health care fuckup that didn't involve the VA. Bring on more government health care!! /sarc

Posted by: Hatchet Five at January 20, 2010 08:32 AM (67Cew)

And some of you laughed when I said I don't trust any of the stuff anyway.

Colloidal silver baby. Haven't had so much as a cold this winter. People I work with who got the shots? Not so "fortunate".

Posted by: teej at January 20, 2010 08:35 AM (c459z)

68 Goddamn, I just watched The Net the other day. That's how they killed Dennis Miller. Oh, and your records will be online!

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at January 20, 2010 08:36 AM (mHQ7T)

69 Why were the insulin and vaccine stored in the same area? The excuses are pure bullshit. Upon receipt of the vaccine, it should have been checked, logged and stored in a separate area until used. What they are claiming makes no sense.

Posted by: People's Front of Judea at January 20, 2010 08:41 AM (iV4X6)

70 C'mon, when has a little insulin overdose ever killed anyone?

That was my first response, isn't that, you know, kinda killy?

Posted by: alexthechick at January 20, 2010 08:43 AM (8WZWv)

71 I'm an anesthetist, and as much as I hate the left, I find it hard to blame them for this.

This was the fault of those drawing up and administering the shots, pure and simple. The nurse screwed this up. As screw ups go, it's a doozy. Kids could have died. Insulin is such a scary thing that when we give it we check the dose with another person to insure we drew up the right amount. This is... embarrassing.

Posted by: Andrew Sullivan's Clutching Anus at January 20, 2010 08:44 AM (GB1t6)

72 Having an old 3 yr. nurse for a mom and having taught at a college with a very robust LPN program I can tell you that while there are some very competent and sharp people in our nurse's programs, some of the others are not the brightest bulbs in the package. Some would say, "so they couldn't pass your composition class with any grade higher than a C-, so what, they aren't English majors?". Well, when you consider that one of the sure fire ways to a C- or lower was to NOT READ THE DIRECTIONS, then you can see why I'd be a bit nervous having them tending to my healthcare.

Posted by: unknown jane at January 20, 2010 08:47 AM (5/yRG)

73 And as a person who had to take insulin shots during her last two pregnancies, and thus know first hand the dangers of both high and low insulin levels, this was a major mistake -- especially if given to kids (smaller pancreas after all). It is a wonder they didn't kill somebody, and how much effect did the misgiven insulin have on those it was given to?

Posted by: unknown jane at January 20, 2010 08:50 AM (5/yRG)

74 A swig or two from the insulin jug, between meal courses, is my secret to keeping my figure.

Posted by: Mike 'al-Moor at January 20, 2010 08:51 AM (5Tl0e)

75 Same thing happens when I confuse my Cocaine w/my Heroin. Only less dangerous.

Posted by: hutch1200 at January 20, 2010 09:46 AM (sYmkx)

Dying of an insulin overdose is cheap. Dying of congestive heart failure is expensive.

Missed by "that much".

Posted by: Richard Aubrey at January 20, 2010 09:55 AM (d0ih6)

77 I work in a long term care pharmacy. There are multi-dose vials of H1N1 vax available. In theory, I guess someone could confuse them with insulin. Unless, you know, read the label. (I know, I know - crazy talk there! Whadaya been doing, drinking Val-U-Rite vodka?)

Posted by: Robert_H at January 20, 2010 10:05 AM (xCuzv)

78 Several have commented on the possibility of either the Massachusetts Health Department, the local health department, or the school being sued. Massachusetts has the precursor to the Federal nationalization of health care. The Federal version [which may have met its "death panel" yesterday] has sovereign immunity built in. You cannot sue the government for any malpractice, because, well; they are the GOVERNMENT. Question for any Massachusetts Morons: Does MassCare have sovereign immunity protecting them from being sued if they screw up? Subotai Bahadur

Posted by: Subotai Bahadur at January 20, 2010 01:16 PM (39fif)

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