A Veterans Administration incident report started with a report that 121 patients of the Charleston, SC facility received medical supplies from Medline Industries intended for 121 other patients. The error was the medical supplier’s packing error. It seems that in April, the supplier had installed a new automated system for applying shipping labels to packages, and the new system did not work properly.
As a result of the incident, 121 veterans were notified of the mishap, and Medline Industries was asked to investigate. But as things developed, the VA learned that there were other reports of mislabeled shipments: 62 veterans from the Hines, Illinois center were also impacted, as were veterans from other facilities.
By the time they were done investigating the incident, a total of 481 veterans were identified as having had their medical supplies sent to other patients. All 481 would be sent breach notification letters.