The operations performed on two successive days at the modern Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital in Michigan could not be considered dangerous. Nonetheless they turned into a nightmare of anesthetic error, and when the nightmare ended, three patients were dead.
The cause of the tragedy, by the hospital's own admission, was an extraordinary catalogue of casual and careless actions by several doctors.
Violent Response. Unlike many hospitals, which make up a fresh batch of anesthetic for each patient, Pontiac Osteopathic practice was to mix Surital* in half-pint quantities, enough for at least ten patients. When Kimberly Ann Bruneel, 8, was wheeled into Operating...
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