Four patients died while in hospital care between January 2004 and December 2010 after they were given medication to which they had a known allergy. These figures were released by the State Claims Agency which is responsible for the clinical indemnity scheme on behalf of the healthcare system.

Earlier this year figures were released showing that over a seven year period 35,310 incidents were recorded and in certain instances patients became ill and had to be admitted to intensive care in the hospital.124 of these resulted in a compensation claim for medical negligence due to a reaction to a known allergen. Studies carried out show that many of the errors were due to the complicated system in place for administrating medicine.

Patient lobby groups believe that treatment incidents are still under-reported in Ireland despite the acknowledgment of more than 5,000 medication errors each year.