Blood Transfusion Errors

Blood transfusions are a very important part of life saving endeavors in many circumstances. In surgery, a person may require blood due to excessive bleeding during surgery. Blood may be necessary during cancer treatment to replenish the number of white blood cells in a person’s body if the numbers dip too low because of chemotherapy and radiation. Blood is a very important part of many medical procedures but still has some inherent risks.

One of the greatest risks after a blood transfusion is the risk of a reaction. Reactions to blood transfusions occur for a variety of reasons but one of the most dangerous reasons is from improperly matched blood. There are basic blood types identified by the antigens present in them; A, B, AB, and O as well as positive and negative versions of each. As a brief synopsis of blood rules, A blood can receive from A people, AB, and O people. B can receive from everyone but A, AB people can receive from AB, A, B, and O, and O people can receive from O alone.

Problems arise when a person is given the wrong type of blood. This is the most serious problem for individuals who are type O because they can only receive from type O people, which also happens to be the rarest blood type. O is the universal donor (it lacks antigens) but a singular recipient.

The problem with giving the person the wrong type of blood is that any of the antigens present in the blood that do not match up with the antigens in the transfusion will attack the transfusion’s antigens. Depending on how much of the wrong blood type was distributed, the reaction will vary.

The greatest area of risk for blood transfusion errors occurs in the emergency room where time is of the essence and it may not be possible to perform blood type tests or things can get mixed up.

Contact a Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Attorney

If you have been injured due to a reaction to the incorrect type of blood, contact the Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. today at 610-667-7511.