[tri-med] CHLORAL HYDRATE EXPERIENCES/knowledge? important

I was wondering if anyone had any chloral hydrate experiences, or knowledge to 
share.
This is our experience with chloral hydrate;

Annie had an MRI at 1 week and an incident report was written because she 
stopped breathing when she was give nitrous oxide.

The anesthetist told us  "make sure that your daughter never has nurse-given 
sedatives". I had no idea what this was but I immediately wrote it in the 
journal that I kept at the hospital. 

Three days before Annie died, the local pediatrician ordered an echo and 
prescribed chloral hydrate. I asked, "Is this a nurse-given sedative?" and she 
said it was. I told her we would hold Annie's hands and keep her calm to forgo 
the chloral hydrate, given the warning we had received. The records show the 
chloral was ordered, but not administered.

16 hours before Annie died, when we entered the PICU,  I heard the intensivist 
order chloral hydrate. I asked, "Is this a nurse-given sedative?" and he said 
it was. I told him that Annie was not to have medication like that because Dr. 
XXX said that it could cause her to stop breathing. He was very annoyed and 
asked, in a sarcastic tone, "Who is Dr. XXX". I responded that he was the 
anesthetist in the MRI at the same hospital as we were in.

The records show that chloral hydrate was ordered, q8, 150mg. (annie was 5.3 
kg). A full dose was given to Annie 4 hours before she stopped breathing. 
Another full dose was given TWO hours later. There is no doctor's order for the 
supplemental dose. We were told that a fellow (resident) gave a voice order and 
the nurse forgot to record it. The director of the department told us that she 
confirmed this story with the fellow. My husband asked, "what is the name of 
the fellow?" There was a long silence and then, "I will get back to you on 
that".  A year later, the Coroner said "I do not need to tell you the name of 
the fellow according to the privacy laws". 

The medication record for the final nursing shift, which commenced immediately 
after the chloral hydrate was given is missing. That nurse has left Canada.

Please....... if anyone could supply me with the details of an experience with 
this medication, including doctor's/hospitals names (OFF LIST OF COURSE) it 
would be extremely helpful. 

No specific cause of death could be determined for Annie. (no toxicology) The 
coroner determined that it was due to "complications of trisomy 13".

We are appealing for a Coroner's inquest, so this information is very 
important. 

Thanks so much.

Barb (mom to Annie)
 


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