Ten people at a special needs facility in Oklahoma were hospitalized after they were injected with insulin instead of their annual flu shot.
Eight residents and two employees of Jacquelyn House, a special needs residential community, had severe medical reactions after being injected with insulin.
Bartlesville Police Chief Tracy Roles claimed several people were unresponsive when authorities arrived.
“EMS and fire crews arrived shortly after and found not one unresponsive person, but multiple unresponsive people,” Roles said.
Roles explained that many of the people wrongly injected with insulin suffered from developmental disabilities that prevented them from being able to ask for help when they reacted to the insulin.
“All these people are symptomatic, lying on the ground, needing help, but can’t communicate what they need,” Roles said. “That’s why I give a lot of praise to the fire and EMS staff for doing an outstanding job of identifying the problem.”
Roles noted that he has never seen a medical error this extreme.
“I’ve never seen where there’s been some sort of medical misadventure to this magnitude. It could have been worse,” he said. “Not to downplay where we are, but thinking of where we could be, it certainly could have been very tragic.”
The pharmacist who distributed the improper injections did not work for Jacquelyn House.
Authorities believe the wrongful injections were a mistake, but are still investigating the situation.
