A pharmacy student is dead because of exposure to a potent drug that is used for pain relief.
The drug is too strong that lawsuits say that it is 80 times more powerful than morphine. They found out that the student should not really be there in the first place. He was working under no supervision. Also, he was practicing unsafe medicine.
There was no urgent care near me during that time. Either way, it will definitely be too hard to save the student from exposure to such powerful drug.
Working as Part of Externship
The student was working for an externship when the mishap happened. James Yoo’s family filed a suit because St. John University was not able to deliver the best environment for the child. They were supposed to work under supervision and with urgent care available. This comes in handy, especially in this profession. There could be too many harmful substances lurking around the corner.
The medicine company, Rockwell, was also charged. This is not the first time that they have had problems with a potent drug.
They are currently under the radar because of the production of medicines that are suspected to be contaminated. Also, they have had issues regarding sending medicines without enough permission to do so.
For the family, this is a complete showcase of irresponsibility and negligence from both the company and the school. Their child should be supervised at all times. Even urgent care clinics who take interns often put an eye on them.
Looking Deeper Into the Autopsy
It was four days after he started his externship that this happened. According to the urgent care clinic that handled the autopsy, it showed that touched the skin of Yoo. This could already be fatal as the drug was fentanyl.
This potent drug is something you should not mess with. According to the experts, only 2 milligrams of this drug is already enough to kill a person. Yoo collapsed in the laboratory. The drug took his life six days after.
Fentanyl is commonly used to treat the pain caused by cancer. Just like what happened to Yoo, it is common that the drug is absorbed by the pores and the skin.
This just goes to show how a potent drug can easily be both dangerous and efficient. It is sad that Yoo had to bear witness to that. Do you think there could have been a better urgent care present in the facilities to at least help him survive?
