Читать книгу The Coming Healthcare Revolution: Take Control of Your Health - Sheldon Cohen M.D. - Страница 11

Potassium chloride (KCL) is the culprit here. In the first two years of keeping such records, ten patients died by the direct intravenous administration of the concentrated solution of potassium chloride. The nurse or pharmacist adds small amounts of this concentrated solution to a liter of IV fluid to make a very dilute KCL solution used to treat low potassium levels. However, if given undiluted, the medical error is irreversible—death is the outcome. For this reason, KCL is banned from hospital nursing units. It is designated a controlled substance like narcotics, and can only be kept in the pharmacy under many safeguards including limiting who may handle it. Each vile is required to carry a label stating HIGH RISK and MUST BE DILUTED. If patients are ever to receive potassium as therapy, they must know how to administer it. If oral tablets, there is no problem if taken as prescribed.