Pregnant mother put into coma

Press, 14 March 1985, Page 6

Pregnant mother put into coma

NZPA-AP Albany, New York Doctors who mistakenly injected a 21-year-old pregnant woman with a cancer drug that paralysed her and will probably lead to her death have been relieved of patient care duties. “They asked to be assigned to non-patient care activities, and we’ve granted that request,” said an Albany Medical Centre spokesman. The two physicians, identified only as a senior resident and a first-year resident, would still be part of Albany Medical Centre, said the spokesman. He added he did not know what their duties would involve.

Lillian Cedeno, of Schenectady, was being treated for a malignant tumour in her sinuses on February 27

at the hospital when one of the staff residents misread a label on a syringe and injected the drug Vincristine into her spinal column. The other staff resident assisted in the procedure. The drug is intended for intravenous use only and injecting it into the spinal column usually results in death, according to the woman’s attending physician.

Ms Cedeno, who is six months pregnant, is comatose, paralysed from the neck down, and breathing with the aid of a respirator that doctors hope wifi keep her alive long enough to allow for delivery of the baby.

Doctors determined on Tuesday during testing that the woman had become comatose, but was not brain dead.