STEYR, Austria - A medical intern at a western Austria hospital mistakenly injected an elderly patient with olive oil instead of antibiotics after mixing up bedside vials, officials said Wednesday.
The patient, a 79-year-old woman in the hospital for an appendectomy, was not in life-threatening condition, hospital director Harald Geck told the Austria Press Agency.
The mixup apparently happened when the intern reached for the wrong vial and injected the patient with olive oil that had been prepared by a hospital physiotherapist for a massage, Geck said. The woman had risked developing a potentially deadly lung embolism, he said.
Geck said the woman was in stable condition and would not suffer any serious complications.
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