Between the end of the 19th century and the present time, problems pertaining to medical errors have been discussed by eminent European medical and legal bodies. Numerous legal treatises of a fundamental character have concentrated on this issue, while defining conditions necessary for appropriate interventions. The problem of a medical error is, thus, ever-present in the history of medicine and it seems that despite the increasingly growing level of medical knowledge and various procedures aiming at—at least—limiting erroneous activities, the issue of medical errors continues to be live.

In this context, an opportunity for discussing the issue of medical error is offered by the present report, which provides an analysis of a fatality in consequence of vinblastine over dosage—a cytostatic agent of a vinca alkaloid employed in cancer chemotherapy.

Reprinted with Permission from Springer's Open Choice