PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Wrong Site Surgeries a Troubling Problem for Patients in North Carolina

The extensive problem of wrong site surgeries has prompted health officials to establish a checklist to prevent these avoidable medical mistakes from happening.

2011-09-02
September 02, 2011 (Press-News.org) Operating on the wrong side of a patient's body is a horrible mistake that should never happen. Unfortunately, it occurs more often than you think. Based on data submitted to the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, wrong site surgeries and procedures occur nearly 40 times per week across the U.S.

The aftermath of wrong site and wrong side surgeries are devastating. In addition to the pain of additional surgery and a lifetime of disfigurement, these mistakes can leave lasting emotional scars. Victims of this type of error may have grounds for a surgery malpractice claim in North Carolina.

To address this problem, the Joint Commission established a uniform protocol for patient safety in 2003.

The protocols include basic checkpoints in four critical times:
- At the check in for the procedure
- Before administration of anesthesia
- Before the incision
- Before the patient leaves the operating room following the surgery.

At each of the first three stages, the medical staff must confirm the patient's identity, receive and verify the patient's consent for the procedure, mark and verify the surgery site and review the patient's medical chart to ensure the staff is aware of any special risks posed.

Before administering anesthesia, the anesthesiologist or nurse should check with the patient to see if they have any allergies and evaluate the risk of aspiration during the procedure.

Once the surgery has been completed, the staff must account for all of the medical equipment and supplies such as sponges and gauze that were used during the procedure.

Despite the universal protocol, officials believe wrong site surgeries are still a problem. According to a recent article by the Washington Post, 93 wrong site errors were reported in 2010, compared to only 49 in 2004. Although reporting of wrong site and wrong procedures is voluntary to encourage doctors and hospitals to be truthful and accurate, it is likely that a large number of errors remain unreported.

Philip F. Stahel, director of orthopedic surgery at Denver Health Medical Center, explained to Kaiser Health News that reported cases are "clearly the tip of the iceberg." This is a critical issue considering that Medicare (which requires such reporting) and will not pay for wrong site surgeries. Medicaid recently announced that beginning next year it will no longer compensate hospitals when such mistakes are made.

To prevent these errors, patients should feel free to speak with everyone involved in the process, especially the nurses who prepare you. Also take time to read and discuss the liability waiver you will be asked to sign. While it does not absolve the medical team of their duty to use reasonable care, it helps everyone understand their roles and expectations. Surgical malpractice attorneys investigate everything from the patient history though the procedure itself to determine if there was any negligence involved.

Victims of wrong site surgeries are entitled to compensation for the costs of additional surgeries and treatment, pain and suffering, and lost wages. If you have questions about the legal implications of a wrong site procedure, a North Carolina medical malpractice attorney experienced attorney can advise you of your options.

Article provided by Law Offices of Wade E Byrd, PA
Visit us at www.wadebyrdlaw.com


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Insect gut microbe with a molecular iron reservoir

Insect gut microbe with a molecular iron reservoir
2011-09-02
Microbes are omnipresent on earth. They are found as free-living microorganisms as well as in communities with other higher organisms. Thanks to modern biological techniques we are now able to address the complex communities and study the role of individual microorganisms and enzymes in more detail. Microbacterium arborescens is a bacterium, which can be found in the guts of herbivorous caterpillars. The Department of Bioorganic Chemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology studies interactions between insects and microorganisms which live in their digestive ...

Defense of Drug Possession and Drug Distribution Cases

2011-09-02
Under Virginia law prosecutors bear the burden to prove each and every element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In short, that means they bear the burden of excluding every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. In drug cases there are generally three prevailing defenses. Each defense is fact driven so although a defense may work in one case it may not actually work on all. The three prevailing defenses in drug cases are (1) search and seizure issues (2) possession issues and (3) whether the commonwealth can prove that the substance found is illegal. All searches ...

Perception of facial expressions differs across cultures

2011-09-02
WASHINGTON — Facial expressions have been called the "universal language of emotion," but people from different cultures perceive happy, sad or angry facial expressions in unique ways, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. "By conducting this study, we hoped to show that people from different cultures think about facial expressions in different ways," said lead researcher Rachael E. Jack, PhD, of the University of Glasgow. "East Asians and Western Caucasians differ in terms of the features they think constitute an angry face ...

Missouri Lawmakers Consider Comprehensive Driver Texting Ban

2011-09-02
Distracted driving takes a horrible toll on innocent Missouri drivers every year. It does not matter whether the distraction comes from applying makeup, checking a map, talking to a passenger or changing a radio station; a moment's negligence, even at moderate speeds, is enough for a car or truck to miss a stop sign or veer into an opposing lane and cause a serious or fatal auto accident. Missouri personal injury attorneys are all too familiar with the horrific harm that such accidents can cause to injury victims and surviving family members. Personal electronic devices ...

Faster diagnostics through cheap, ultra-portable blood testing

Faster diagnostics through cheap, ultra-portable blood testing
2011-09-02
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1—Blood tests are important diagnostic tools. They accurately tease-out vanishingly small concentrations of proteins and other molecules that help give a picture of overall health or signal the presence of specific diseases. Current testing procedures, however, are expensive and time-consuming, while sophisticated test equipment is bulky and difficult to transport. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Toledo in Ohio has addressed all these drawbacks by developing a low-cost, portable technique that is able to quickly and reliably detect ...

Dangers on Missouri Highways: Unsecured Truck Loads

2011-09-02
It might seem like an accident that could only happen in a horror movie, but the reality of unsecured cargo is much more serious and more prevalent than most people assume. AAA reported that around 25,000 vehicle accidents and 80-90 deaths occur as a direct result of unsecured cargo per year. Unsecured cargo is essentially insufficient stability of the materials a trucker is transporting. Typically, materials transported by 18-wheelers include steel coils, lumber, auto parts and various construction supplies, but the list can also extends to liquid or hazardous materials ...

Getting the Lead Out: Protecting Children From Dangerous Toys

2011-09-02
How do you protect your child's safety when there are 30,000 tons of potentially dangerous toys pouring into the United States from foreign countries every year? These boatloads of foreign toys account for 95 percent of the toys sold in the U.S. every year -- and many of them cause serious injuries to children. Of course, American-made toys can cause children's injuries too. Regardless of their origin, toys should not put children at undue risk of injury. Trouble in Toyland Report That's why a leading consumer advocacy group, U.S. PIRG, tries to educate the public ...

Lung cancer ALK rearrangement may predict pemetrexed efficacy, study shows

2011-09-02
Patients with ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) responded significantly better to pemetrexed (brand name: Alimta) than patients whose cancer did not show ALK translocation, according to research published in the September issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Lung adenocarcinoma can display genetic mutations, including anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. Knowing whether the tumor displays ...

The quantum tunneling effect leads electron transport in porphyrins

The quantum tunneling effect leads electron transport in porphyrins
2011-09-02
Porphyrins are organic molecules that appear in the central region of macromolecules such as chlorophyll and hemoglobin, and have a metal atom at their center that determines their specific function. The importance of these molecules in the field of molecular electronics lies in their "ease of transfer electrons from one region to another" explains the responsible of the work at the Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Research Center (a joint research center of the CSIC, the University of Oviedo and the Government of the Principality of Asturias) Víctor Manuel García. ...

Federal Study Determines Causes of Trucking Accidents

2011-09-02
Commercial tractor-trailers are involved in an increasing number of serious, and often fatal, accidents. To learn why, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted the Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS). This study provided vital information, including the reasons behind serious crashes involving large trucks. Researchers reviewed 120,000 crashes that occurred between April 2001 and December 2003 and selected a nationally representative sample of 963 accidents. These accidents, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

The experts that can outsmart optical illusions

Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk

Scientists uncover novel immune mechanism in wheat tandem kinase

Three University of Virginia Engineering faculty elected as AAAS Fellows

Unintentional drug overdoses take a toll across the U.S. unequally, study finds

A step toward plant-based gelatin

ECMWF unveils groundbreaking ML tool for enhanced fire prediction

The food and fuel that farms itself

Patient- and Community-Level Characteristics Associated With RSV Vaccination

[Press-News.org] Wrong Site Surgeries a Troubling Problem for Patients in North Carolina
The extensive problem of wrong site surgeries has prompted health officials to establish a checklist to prevent these avoidable medical mistakes from happening.