Medical Errors

MEDICAL ERRORS COMMON. 98,000 deaths PER YEAR from Medical Errors in USA. The Events described below can happen at any Hospital all over the World. Many hospitals in the USA have patient advocates. You should be your own patient advocate or request a relative who is a nurse or physician if there is none in the hospital you will be staying. Is there a section or group of MD and Nurses collecting Errors at your Hospital? Nonie Leonidas, MD (I will be posting below to my e mail and FB groups. If you have suggestions how to Reduce Medical Errors, please e mail me:evidencebasednews@gmail.com) What You Need to Survive a Visit to the Hospital By Bob Irish Sophie Tyler checked into the Birmingham Children's Hospital with a minor problem. She needed a routine procedure to have gallstones removed. She left with a major problem: in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down. An epidural anesthetic, put into her spine to alleviate the pain from the gallstone operation, remained in too long. Despite Sophie's complaints of numbness, the hospital staff failed to remove the epidural until two days after her surgery. By then, the anesthetic had entered her spinal cord and damaged the membrane. The hospital admitted its mistake. But Sophie will never walk again. At least Sophie was able to leave the hospital. Perley Covington checked into Kings County Hospital but never checked out. She died of acute lidocaine toxicity. Lidocaine is a topical anesthetic. But some bozo administered the lidocaine intravenously. Perley had a seizure. Again, this hospital admitted its mistake. But that won't wake up Perley from her dirt nap. Hospital errors happen all the time. According to a study by the Institute of Medicine, preventable hospital mistakes kill as many as 98,000 people each year. That's three times the number of people killed in automobile accidents annually. The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that one in seven Medicare patients experienced medical errors during a hospital stay that caused serious harm or death. I think about these stats every time I check into a hospital (twice in the last three months). And they scare the crap out of me. Question: What do you call a medical student who finishes last in his class? Answer: an M.D. You may have a lot of confidence in your surgeon. But what about the supporting cast? Maybe the orderly changing your IV bags was up all night on a meth bender. He doesn't seem to be paying attention. Maybe the nurse delivering your medication just found out her husband has cancer. She seems distracted. The intern filling in for your doctor looks tired. Maybe he's at the end of his 24-hour shift. The problem, of course, is that everyone at the hospital is just doing their job. But you are not their only patient. And you are not the center of their universe. I'd feel better about the whole thing if I had someone in my corner every time I see the doctor or check into the hospital. Somebody to ask the tough questions. And from whom to get real answers not shrouded in medical jargon. Someone to double- and triple-check that the doctor or nurse does every procedure correctly. Somebody who's not afraid to ask the nurse if she's washed her hands. Someone who won't be intimidated. Somebody who cares about only me. I've just described a person called a patient advocate. END Comment: Deaths from medical errors are common. Be extra-careful. This can happen to physicians family also. My wife was mis-diagnosed by two board certified internist, two certified orthopedists, and one certified radiologist in Maine, USA. I will write about this error later. L Leonidas, MD