ASHP Response to Criminalization of Medication Errors

ASHP has been following recent events regarding the conviction of former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse RaDonda Vaught of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult after a medication error resulted in the death of a patient in 2017.

ASHP’s policy on Just Culture and Reporting Medication Errors recognizes the importance of a fair process to hold staff and leadership accountable but also includes transparent evaluation of errors that arise from flawed system designs or inadvertent human error.

Criminalization of medication error cases can impede an effective evaluation and remediation of the root causes of errors and can discourage voluntary reporting of medication errors.