2011
According to Pennsylvania's Patient Safety Authority, over five patients every month in Pennsylvania experience one of the worst medical mistakes a patient can go through; a doctor operating on the wrong part of the body or worse the wrong patient. The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority has collected health care facility data since 2004, and since that time hospitals in the state have committed 416 wrong-site surgeries. That is around 64 surgeries involving possible medical malpractice per year.
Misinformation is the cause of many wrong-site surgeries, but as the President of the Pennsylvania Medical Society says operating on the wrong part of a patient's body or the wrong patient is a "never event" and should not happen when everyone is paying attention. Misinformation can come from a variety of sources including bad memories, mixed-up patient reports or incorrect schedules. Sometimes medical mistakes can be made due to a mistake in perception. Misperception can occur when a procedure is scheduled for one part of the body but the body is flipped over, which also flips the operating area of the body.
The most common types of wrong-site surgeries are wrong-site operations on the spine and wrong-site operations on fingers. Sometimes a wrong-site operation does not produce any harm such as a wrong-site operation on a patient who is having bilateral cataract operations. The surgery team operates on the wrong eye first but since both eyes need the procedure the patient is not harmed. Mistakes like that are included in wrong-site surgery statistics.
Fortunately, the grimmest situations like the permanent removal of a limb or vital organ have not occurred in Pennsylvania since the Authority began keeping track of data. Patients can protect themselves by voicing concern if they notice uncertainty regarding their procedure.
Source: The Morning Call, "'Never events' happen dozens of times per year," Tim Darragh, 3/19/11
Tags: Pennsylvania, medical malpractice, medical mistake, misinformation, wrong-site surgeryComments: Leave a commentView the Original article