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South Carolina Medical Malpractice Law Blog

Medical error at well-known hospital

A 76-year-old man who went into a well-known hospital to have a kidney removed came out of the surgery with one less body part; however, it was the wrong one. Although it is not clear what happened in the surgery, what is clear is that a physician took the wrong kidney out of the man. Medical errors can occur anywhere, including South Carolina.

While the man is questioning how the surgical error happened, hospital officials explained that both of his kidneys were not functioning properly. Although mistakes are common in medicine, a professional should double check their records to make sure that mistakes like these don't happen. Other surgeons at the hospital later took out the second kidney for the patient, who is now on dialysis. The man reportedly expressed his confidence in that surgeon.

Hospital patients catching superbugs

In addition to whatever ailment a South Carolina resident has entered a hospital for, they may also have to worry about catching a superbug. Approximately one in every 20 people who enter a hospital will catch a superbug over the course of their stay. This has caused a growing concern about the issue of medical malpractice and cleanliness, and many hospitals have started taking steps to prevent the spread of these types of infections, though there is no consensus that any are effective yet.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infections from superbugs are associated with over 100,000 deaths every year. Some of these viruses are even resistant to the antibiotics that are currently available. As far back as the late 1800's, hospitals noticed that unsanitary conditions led to worsening patient conditions. Today, hospitals are using robots that emit UV light or hydrogen peroxide vapors, as well as germ-resistant bed rails and call buttons in an attempt to reduce or eliminate the rate of infection.

Bullying in hospitals may pose safety risks for patients

South Carolina residents may be interested to hear about information that suggests that bullying between doctors and co-workers may pose safety risks for patients. In a survey of over 4,500 health care workers, 77 percent reported disruptive behaviors among doctors and 65 percent reported disruptive behaviors among nurses. Nearly one-third of those same workers said that such behaviors contributed to patient deaths, and more than two-thirds said that they led to medical errors.

In one case, a perfusionist claimed that a cardiac surgeon clenching his fists and yelling at him menacingly made him feel threatened and traumatized him. A perfusionist is the person who operates the heart/lung machine during an open-heart surgery, so having his or her focus is extremely important in an operation. The Indiana Supreme Court later upheld a $325,000 settlement for the traumatized perfusionist. The tension between doctors and employees can potentially lead to more medical errors, which can, consequently, lead to more medical malpractice lawsuits.

Constant noise from medical devices may lead to "alarm fatigue"

South Carolina patients and patients elsewhere may not be being given the treatment they need if hospital workers have "alarm fatigue." According to a hospital accrediting group, nonstop beeping from hospital monitoring devices may lead to workers tuning out the noises. This increases the chances that patients will not be treated in a timely manner and that medical malpractice may occur.

The group believes that, on average, at least 24 deaths a year occur due to alarm fatigue. However, according to reports from the FDA, the number may be far greater. Between January 2005 and June 2010, the FDA found links between 500 deaths and hospital alarms; however, the reports include equipment malfunctions, so the cause of death may not be related to alarm fatigue. 

Why hospitals can be dangerous

South Carolina residents going to a hospital for medical care may feel that they are completely safe, but the unfortunate truth is that, according to the Institute of Medicine, about 100,000 people die from medical errors in the United States every year. In addition to instances of medical malpractice, people may end up being misdiagnosed, given the wrong type or amount of medication or put through unnecessary tests.

One of the leading causes of harm to patients in hospitals is misdiagnosis. If someone's medical issue is not correctly identified, it is not going to be treated properly. Doctors need to be proactive about figuring out what patients are suffering from instead of just ruling out what they do not have. Related to this is being given the wrong type of medication or the wrong dosage. Even if someone has been diagnosed correctly, they may not end up getting the medication they need.

Shorter shifts for resident doctors lead to more errors

South Carolina residents may be aware that researchers have made a counterintuitive discovery that shorter shifts for resident doctors in hospitals lead to a greater number of errors. According to two studies being published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, misdiagnosis and other medical errors are more likely when residents work 16 hours without a break as opposed to 30 hours.

The goal of the medical oversight board shortening shifts for residents was to reduce errors made by sleepy doctors according to a study done by the University of Michigan Medical School. However, in practice, residents working the shorter shift are 15 to 20 percent more likely to make a mistake. Two possible reasons for this are that residents are not sleeping more in spite of shorter shifts and increasing "handoff risks." When a patient does not have the same medical professional looking after them for an extended period of time, important diagnostic information may be missed.

Medical malpractice suits against hospitalists more common

According to a senior vice president with The Doctors Company, which is the largest U.S. provider of medical malpractice insurance for physicians, hospital-based physicians face a higher number of malpractice claims than primary care physicians. Medical malpractice claims against hospitalists also tend to carry a higher dollar value. This disparity between physicians working in different environments has led insurance companies to craft separate policies for the approximately 35,000 hospitalists.

Why are hospitalists, who receive the same training as other medical doctors, at higher risk of malpractice suits? Medscape Today suggests several reasons for the difference. When patients are admitted to a hospital, the hospitalist generally takes over the role of the primary care physician. Primary physicians build relationships with their patients by learning how they communicate and gathering background information. Hospitalists lack these resources, which is a problem often compounded by greater job stress. The stress factor was highlighted by a Johns Hopkins survey of hospitalists. It showed that 40 percent of doctors believed hospital admittances routinely went above safe levels. Almost as many doctors claimed this occurred once per week.

Avoid health care risks by being proactive

Hospitalization is often necessary to treat serious illnesses, but patients in South Carolina and throughout the country need to take a few steps to insure the safest stay possible. There have been an estimated 1.5 million medication errors every year, according to a recent study by the National Patient Safety Foundation, and over 1,000 other serious mistakes that have caused unnecessary deaths or worsening of illness. Notable cases included a man who lost his leg when a post surgical drain was left in too long and newborns who have died of Heparin overdoses.

Unless a patient is facing an emergency, he or she should take the time to investigate the hospital and other providers that will be in charge of their care. Many people do not do this, but it can be as simple as looking up the prospective hospital and physician online and verifying all their licensing. Many resources can be found at the Agency for Health Research and Quality. Institutional and physician safety records are more available now than they ever have been, and patients may want to take advantage of this information.

Study: Short patient visits and quality of patient care

When a patient makes an appointment with his or her primary care physician, the tension level at that visit is usually lower than on visits to a specialist, a surgeon or a hospital facility. After all, primary care physicians are most often associated with preventative medicine and therefore these office visits often feel less threatening for patients.

Unfortunately, failure to take these office visits seriously can lead to serious consequences. A recent study indicates that physicians' rate of failure to diagnose various conditions at the level of primary care is highest when certain elements of these office visits are not given proper consideration.

Leave-behind surgical errors can be fatal

There are many legitimate reasons that patients fear the operating room. The risk of contracting a post-operative infection, the risk of reacting to anesthesia and the risk of a challenging diagnosis can be daunting. However, risks that patients should not be subjected to are those of leave-in surgical errors. Tragically, more than one dozen patients are subjected to leave-in surgical errors on a daily basis nationwide. When sponges, towels and other surgical tools are left inside patient bodies, the outcome can be catastrophic.

These retained surgical items can cause patients extreme pain and can inspire various complications requiring hospitalization including organ failure and death. As a result of their potentially lethal complications and because leaving a foreign object inside a patient rises to the level of unacceptable negligence, leave-in surgical errors have been deemed "never events."

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