If you read last week’s blog, then you may have an understanding of how surgical errors can harm patients. However, retained surgical items is only one type of surgical error responsible for injuries and deaths each year. Additional types of surgical mistakes include: Wrong-site surgery: This type of surgical mistake is exactly what it sounds like. Surgeons may perform a procedure on the wrong part of the body. Hospitals can avoid this type of mistake by utilizing a pre-operation checklist and by clearly marking where to operate. Wrong-patient surgery: Believe it or not, there are instances where surgeons operate on the wrong patients. There was a recent medical malpractice case covered by the press where an 89-year-old woman died after receiving an unnecessary brain surgery. Doctors had confused the woman with another patient. Wrong surgical procedure: Surgeons can also perform the wrong type of procedure on a patient. For example,…
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