Why would a MD give Fentanyl, a KNOWN PATIENT ALLERGY, multiple times during a routine surgery?

9 Dec 2011

So patient is allergic to Fentanyl and it was given anyway? If the patients chart was marked with Fentanyl allergy, which it should have been, then he screwed up! If the chart was never marked then the ball was dropped somewhere in the pre-op process. If I were looking into this, I would check to see if the chart was clearly marked with the Fentanyl allergy and/or that the patient had a red allergy band on stating the allergy. These things should have been done. If not, then it is the fault of the admitting personel and the surgeon and/or anesthesiologist may not have known of the allergy since it was not marked. If patient had an allergy band and the chart was marked with the allergy then the surgeon and/or the anesthesiologist was negligent for not checking allergies! There is definitely a negligence somewhere in this picture and should be investigated. I hope the patient is ok! This is a very unfortunate incidence.