St. Luke's Hospital investigation finds deficiencies in care, according to report

HOUSTON, Texas -- A patient died in December after reportedly receiving a transfusion of the wrong blood type at St. Luke's Hospital, prompting an investigation.

A report found "deficiencies" in patient care, according to an open letter from Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center President Doug Lawson.

Dr. Lawson wrote, in part, "I'm sharing results of a recent hospital review that is deeply disappointing to me, our Board of Directors, and our entire Baylor St. Luke's family because they describe patient care activities that simply does [sic] not meet our standards or expectations. These findings are the initial results from a review by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of a patient death following a blood transfusion error in the Emergency Department. CMS reviewers found significant deficiencies that led to this incident in December. It is our responsibility to learn from these mistakes, and we take this responsibility very seriously. An incident like this should never happen."

The 75-year-old woman went to the hospital in early December after suffering an apparent brain hemorrhage, the report states. She received a blood transfusion and then began having complications, including four cardiac arrests over a three-hour time-frame. The woman died the following day. Her blood type was B+, but she was reportedly given A+ plasma in error.