Wrong-Site Brain Surgery: a Rare, Yet Serious Problem
Wrong-site surgeries occur when a surgeon performs an operation on the wrong part of the body, performs the wrong procedure on the patient, or performs surgery on the wrong patient. These errors are serious and have life-threatening consequences. However, most of these wrong-site surgeries do not involve surgery on the wrong part of the brain, which is what happened in April 2013 in a St. Louis hospital.
It is estimated that one wrong-site surgery on the brain happens each year. However, the consequences of this type of medical tragedy include cognitive impairment, loss of emotional capacity, personality changes, and connection to family. It also can have a profound physical effect on the patient. The case of the wrong-site brain surgery in St. Louis, Missouri involved Regina Turner, a former paralegal who had surgery on the wrong part of her brain. She was left requiring continual care and can no longer speak coherently. The surgeon who performed the surgery has a relatively good record since being granted his license to practice medicine. However, an interesting note in the doctor’s record showed that a patient operated on the prior year was administered Heparin, a blood thinner, rather than Hespan, a drug to reduce bleeding. This medication error is merely one of the many types of malpractice that can occur in a hospital setting.
It is difficult to track the rate of occurrence of events like wrong-site surgery because hospitals are not required to report publicly those serious events that should never occur if the proper amount of watchfulness is in place. These events are referred to as “never events.” Hospitals also have no obligation to report events that are known as “sentinel events,” which are serious medical events that result in significant physical or psychological harm to the patient. The state or federal health agencies that will investigate some serious errors also have no obligation to publicly report the investigation findings, which means that it is difficult for a patient to discover what errors have occurred at a particular hospital. This means that patients may walk into a hospital for a surgery without any idea of how many serious and life-changing errors have happened there in the past. Hospitals may volunteer to report these mistakes to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), which views voluntary reporting as a mechanism by which hospitals can focus on problems and correct the systems that lead to errors.
Despite the fact that the wrong-site brain surgery that was performed on Regina Turner was a very rare event, the JCAHO’s Center for Transforming Healthcare reported that national error reports lead to the estimate that there are more than 200 wrong-site surgeries performed every year.
Wrong-site surgeries are a terrible, and completely preventable, type of medical malpractice. If you or a loved one has been injured in a wrong-site surgery or other type of medical malpractice, it is important to contact the experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Bailey & Greer as soon as possible. Medical malpractice cases require extensive investigation into the medical practices of the professionals who were involved in the negligent event or events. This is particularly challenging because doctors and other medical personnel tend to close ranks when one person is accused of medical errors. Our Memphis medical malpractice attorneys have the skill and experience to get you the answers that you need and the recovery that you need to help you adjust to an altered reality. To set up a free and confidential consultation to discuss your case, please call us at 901-680-9777.
Since graduating magna cum laude in 2005 from the University of Memphis School of Law, Thomas has helped make a difference in the lives of victims of serious personal injury, wrongful death, and professional negligence. Thomas has extensive trial experience in both state and federal court. Among other victories in the courtroom, Thomas obtained several impressive jury verdicts and settlements
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