Friday, July 15, 2005

Usurpation of identity (more...)

Here's another example sent by a colleague in BC, Canada (names are changed):

We had a patient a few weeks ago who got into a fight while out with friends at a bar. He was brought into Emergency and crossmatched under
“Fred Flintstone”. He did not have a historical record so no one was the wiser.His friends even called him “Fred”. Who was to know?

Well,the police were notified and came to the hospital to investigate....Ooops! As he was about to go into the OR, a police officer recognized him as “Barney Rubble”. He was using a friend’s ID because he was well known to them and under house arrest!

All specimens were discarded, redrawn and retested. The record under the original name was expunged.


Cheers, Pat


What's New on TraQ