November 4, 2009

Yikes….Interesting Article

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So, I came across this article online today and just had to write a quick post about it to express my utter             disbelief that this can even happen in modern times.  A hospital in Rhode Island was just fined AGAIN for performing the 5th wrong site surgery in 2 years!  How is this even possible with all the checks & balances that are supposed to be in place at every single hospital in this country??  The latest incident involved surgery on the wrong finger, but in 2007 brain surgeons (BRAIN SURGEONS!!) operated on the wrong  part of the heads of 3 patients!  Whaaaaaa??  I just honestly don’t get it.   We’re talking about freekin’ neurosurgeons here  - these are generally quite intelligent people with a lot of education & knowledge.  And not just the doctors themselves, but the entire surgical team should most certainly have enough wherewithal to never, ever let something like this happen.  It can be hard to find a good physician who seems knowledgeable & trustworthy, and as patients we have no choice but to entrust doctors with our lives when it comes to illness & surgery.  And then to actually have something go wrong, not due to a complication, but because of a simple & stupid mistake like not marking the surgery site, that just seems unfathomable. 

Sorry, but this story just blows my mind.  And I know we’re not talking about an easy job here – without a doubt, being a surgeon is complex stuff!  But this story is about the simplicity of making a senseless mistake, multiple times.

If you want to read more, click HERE for the full article.

PS – My mother-in-law just had actual brain surgery (to clip an aneurysm) earlier this year at one of the best hospitals in the country with a very reputable surgeon.   With all the things we stressed over during that time, I couldn’t even imagine having something like this also be in our already over-loaded & worried thoughts.

PSS – Remind me to never get sick or injured while in the vicinity of the Rhode Island Hospital, which by the way is a teaching  hospital for Brown University….NICE!

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1 comment:

Frugal Vicki said...

That is absolutely terrifying. My son had to have two surgeries, and he was in one of the best Children's Hospitals, and even then I noticed that some of the nurses weren't doing the required checks and balances. It is so scary.

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