It’s horrific to think that people can go into surgery, expecting to have their medical needs taken care of, and then have their situation worsened by the professionals who are supposed to be looking out for them. When you’ve been caused pointless grief and pain, the people responsible should be held liable for their careless actions.
Uncovering the Prevalence of Surgical Errors
With all the education and medical advancements of our day, the fact that wrong site surgeries occur at all is dumbfounding. As statistics are brought to light and authorities learn more about the remarkable prevalence of wrong site surgeries, healthcare professionals and consumers alike are becoming increasingly alarmed.
It’s difficult to calculate the exact number of wrong site surgeries performed each year, because unfortunately, many hospitals and doctors are not required by law to report them.
The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare estimates that:
- 40 wrong site surgeries happen each week in the US; or
- roughly 6 Americans every day senselessly suffer at the hands of their health care providers in the operating room.
There are plenty of factors that contribute to wrong site surgery, such as:
- physicians transposing the left and right sides;
- rushed or poorly organized operating room procedures;
- operations performed based on test results that belong to another patient;
- insufficient communication between medical staff and patients;
- failing to mark the site of surgery;
- marking incorrect vertebra before surgery; and
- surgeons operating under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
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