Medical Mistakes You Won’t Believe: An Organ Transplant Gone Wrong
Organ transplants are used to give dying patients a second chance at life. However, sometimes the unthinkable occurs and transplant errors take lives. A transplant error in 2003 gained national attention and led to changes on how these surgeries are conducted. In 2003, Duke University admitted that it used the incorrect organs during a heart… Read more »
Tags: Surgery
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Watch Your Step, Falls in Hospitals Hurt Thousands of Patients Annually
Did you know falls are one of the top patient safety threats in hospitals? Statistics gathered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) show that thousands of hospital patients are injured in falls every year. One-third of hospital falls are preventable. In some cases, hospitals do not take the necessary steps to prevent… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Can Robots Transform Hospital Safety?
Robots are being used in healthcare settings to prevent pharmacy mistakes, assist with surgery and to diagnose illnesses. In many cases, robots perform these tasks more accurately than human beings. It seems possible robots can make hospitals safer. Read on to learn more about how robots or artificial intelligence have been used to prevent medical… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
What Can Happen to Patients When Surgeons Remove the Wrong Body Part?
Wrong-site surgeries can involve surgeons who remove the wrong body part. A story published by the Los Angeles Times provides a perfect example of how removing the wrong body part can haunt patients for the rest of their lives. In 2006, a 47-year-old Air Force veteran and married father of four was scheduled at West Los… Read more »
Tags: Surgery
Posted in Surgical Errors
What Happens When Sponges Are Left Inside of Patients?
Data gathered by the National Center for Health Statistics suggests 5,500 to 7,000 patients have foreign objects left behind after surgery each year. Surgical sponges are one of the worst objects that can be left behind, as they cause excruciating pain and deadly infections. A Los Angeles woman’s horrifying story can serve as an example…. Read more »
Tags: MedicalErrors
Posted in Surgical Errors
Should You Use Yelp to Find a Hospital or Doctor?
People use Yelp to find reviews on restaurants, barbershops, retail stores and other businesses. Customers also leave detailed comments describing their experiences with service. Should we use Yelp to rate hospitals or doctors in the same way we do businesses? Would this be a reliable way of finding hospital safety scores? Yelp does allow patients… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Is This Illness the Most Misdiagnosed Disease in the World?
Tens of thousands of Americans have been afflicted by a mysterious illness that causes chronic fatigue, muscle aches, night sweats and chills. No, this is not the flu, it’s Lyme disease, a vector-borne illness (meaning it is caused by bites, mostly from ticks). The illness mimics so many other conditions that it’s frequently called ‘the… Read more »
Tags: LymeDisease
Posted in Misdiagnosis
Can Hospital Interpreters Cause Medical Mistakes?
Hospitals across the country use interpreters to help doctors communicate with patients who primarily speak foreign languages. In some cases, hospital interpreter mistakes cause patients to suffer permanent or fatal consequences. Several years ago, NPR wrote an article that shared the story of Willie Ramirez, an 18-year-old man who suffered a catastrophic injury due to… Read more »
Tags: MedicalMistakes
Posted in Medical Malpractice
What You Should Know About Wrong-Patient Surgeries
Wrong-patient surgeries have horrific and permanent consequences for patients and their families. Doctors may sometimes remove limbs or other body parts from the wrong patients. A wrong-patient surgery that occurred in Massachusetts is gaining national media attention. According to St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, a doctor removed a kidney from the wrong patient. St. Vincent… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Surgical Errors
Are Children More Vulnerable to Medical Errors?
Children are more likely than adults to suffer permanent disabilities or death from medical errors. This is because organs and immune systems are still developing during early childhood. Children are also less capable of communicating with doctors or nurses when errors are made. For these reasons, it is important for parents to help prevent medical… Read more »
Tags: Parenting
Posted in Medical Malpractice
