British hospitals have been ordered to use a more diluted form of potassium chloride following the first-ever detailed study of adverse incidents in the UK, and additional controls will be added in specialist wards.
The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) says that at least 13 patients have died or been paralyzed because of accidental overdoses involving the drug since 1985. In the last 6 months, 3 people have died. Potassium chloride, which is employed during the lethal injection of prisoners in the US, is used in small doses to treat patients who have low levels of potassium.
The NPSA was created a year ago to coordinate efforts across the UK to report and learn from adverse events that occur within the National Health Service. — CMAJ