How common are surgical errors?

April 05, 2013 (Press-News.org) How common are surgical errors?

Article provided by Law Office of Kenneth N. Margolin, P.C.
Visit us at http://www.mederrorlaw.com/

It is news that patients facing surgery do not want to hear: unthinkable errors - including wrong-site and wrong-patient surgeries - are much more common than people think. According to a recent study out of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, these sorts of errorsoccur over 4,000 times each year in the U.S.

Researchers used data collected in the National Practitioner Data Bank from 1990 to 2010 to learn more about the incidence of wrong-site surgeries, wrong-patient surgeries and incidents where surgical instruments and materials were mistakenly left inside patients. The NPDB is a federal collection of information about medical malpractice claims that includes data about malpractice judgments and out of court settlements.

For the years studied, researchers identified 80,000 incidents of these sorts of errors. Though this number sounds high, it is likely that just the tip of the iceberg, even though hospitals are required by law to report information about medical malpractice claims. One difficulty in cases involving retained foreign objects, for example, is that incidents may never be reported because patients never complain of complications.

Overall, the study indicates that each week across the U.S.:
-Towels or sponges are left inside patients 40 times
-Surgeons operate on the wrong patient or the wrong part of the body 20 times
-Surgeons perform the wrong operation 20 times

Surgeons and medical professionals generally refer to these sorts of injuries as "never events" because they are, in fact, preventable and should never happen. Health experts encourage patients to talk to their surgeons to ensure that they are using checklists and other procedures that can help prevent the incidence of simple mistakes. Before they are wheeled into the operating room, patients should speak to their surgical teams to make sure they know what they are doing and on which part of their bodies they are doing it. It may even be a good idea for patients to mark the site of surgery on their own bodies to avoid any confusion.

An experienced medical malpractice attorney may be able to help

Claims involving surgical errors can be complex and generally require a significant investment of time and effort by an experienced legal team. As a result, only those claims involving either death or very serious injury can be pursued. For more information, contact a knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney, who can evaluate your case and help you get the compensation for your injuries you deserve.