Purpose:

To provide an opportunity for students to investigate the cause of a laboratory error and consider the related consequences

Instructions:

Students are given the following scenario. Answer the questions follow:

An 83 year-old male was admitted to hospital with fever, weight loss, and cough, and was being investigated for possible tumor. Sputum was reported to be positive for tuberculosis. However, on later review it was found that this result was false. The false positive culture was due to in-laboratory contamination. Further investigation found 14 additional patients with false positive TB cultures.

Questions

• How would you have found the source of the error?
• What are the likely consequences of these errors