Lilly, O'Toole & Brown Blog

Personal Injury

12/12/2008
Mindy
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Is it Possible to Prevent Wrong Site Surgery?

Although wrong site surgery is rare, when it does happen the consequences are often severe. Wrong site surgery is the term used to describe a procedure done on the wrong organ or limb, the wrong vertebral level or the wrong person.

A study was conducted a couple of years ago, which determined a wrong site surgery rate of 1 in 112,994 cases. According to researchers, cases involving retained objects are more common than cases involving wrong site surgery. There was a disclaimer made by the authors of the study, stating that the rate of wrong site surgeries could be higher because only the cases that prompted malpractice claims with insurers were identified.

Wrong site surgery can occur with any type of procedure, including hand surgeries. A survey of hand surgeons showed that 21 percent of hand surgeons admitted that they performed a wrong-site surgery at least once during their career. Wrong-finger surgery made up 63 percent of the reported 242 wrong site surgery incidents.

As a patient, you may be wondering what you can do to help prevent wrong site surgery from happening to you. Luckily there are measures you can take to reduce your risk. The American College of Surgeons produced several tips to help patients ensure the correct operation is performed. The first recommendation this organization had for patients was to communicate with their doctors and medical staff. Ask a lot of questions, confirming the name of the procedure, the body part, alternatives to the operation, risks of the procedure and estimated recovery time. You might also want to inquire about who is in charge of the surgical team and if the correct part of the body will be marked before the surgery begins.

You do have legal rights if you have been the victim of wrong-site surgery and can purse compensation for your injuries. Contact an experienced Florida medical malpractice lawyer at the Law Offices of Lilly, O’Toole & Brown at (863) 683-1111 for advice regarding your case.

The article, Wrong-Site Surgery – An AHRQ Supported Study, has more information on this topic.

Labels: malpractice medical error medical malpractice wrong site surgery

1 Comments to "Is it Possible to Prevent Wrong Site Surgery?"

Medical malpractice is seen not only in the United States, but also in many parts of the globe. The people of Italy are probably going to need payday loans to get justice as they work to dismantle a criminal organization that has been hard at work doing just that. The organization would sell fake nursing degrees to those looking for a way to obtain extra money with a larger payday. One of these fake-nursing diplomas runs about 15,000 Euros or $19,000. The criminal organization provided brief training in basic skills such as taking patients’ blood pressure and giving injections. Fortunately, their incompetence eventually caught up, finally bringing down the crime ring’s operation. Here in the U.S. there have been many cases of malpractice over the years. We’ve heard the horrifying stories of people who had the wrong limbs amputated or the wrong organs removed. These stories are most remembered but are not as common. Nonetheless, malpractice for things such as wrong diagnosis and accidental death remain in the air. As startling as the statistics show (some 44,000 to 88,000 cases get filed each year), malpractice to a certain degree is just natural human error. No medical system will ever be perfect, considering the fact that we all are imperfect. However, we have the capability to do certain things to improve the system. One of the things we must address is the too long of hours that the people in this field put in. A poll shows that the average shift worked by those in residency was 37.6 hours with most working over eighty hours a week on average. Sleep deprivation is a rising concern – we all know this affects our ability to think and perform at a productive level. So don’t hesitate to reschedule a doctor’s appointment if your physician appears to be sleepy. Click here to read the full article yourself on the payday loan money blog at Personalmoneystore.com.

Posted by Jose E on December 16, 2008 at 03:34 AM