subject: Medical Events That Should Never Happen [print this page] Medical errors can happen to anyone at any stage in life. Often, patients don't realize that wrongdoing took place until months after the event. The result can often be serious disability or even death.
At Hill-Boren we review hundreds of medical malpractice cases every year. Due to many factors, we are only able to accept about 20 new malpractice cases and we are often asked which cases get our attention. Recently, the National Quality Forum published a list of medical events that should never, ever happen to a medical patient. Most of these events take place while a patient is being cared for in a healthcare facility while others can happen anywhere, even a patient's home. We have listed the top twenty events that are definite red flags for medical malpractice.
1. Surgery performed on the wrong body part
2. Surgery performed on the wrong patient
3. Wrong surgical procedure on a patient
4. Retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery
or other procedure
5. Intraoperative or immediately post-operative death in a normally healthy patient
6. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics provided by the healthcare facility
7. Patient death or serious disability associated with intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a healthcare facility
8. Infant discharged to the wrong person
9. Patient death or serious disability associated with patient disappearance for more than four hours
10. Patient death or serious disability associated with a medication error
11. Patient death or serious disability due to transfusion of the wrong blood type.
12. Maternal death or serious disability associated with labor or delivery on a low-risk pregnancy while being cared
for in a healthcare facility.
13. Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers acquired after admission to a healthcare facility.
14. Patient death associated with a fall while being cared for in a healthcare facility.
15. Patient death or serious disability associated with hypoglycemia, the onset of which occurs while the patient is being cared for in a healthcare facility
16. Death or serious disability associated with failure to identify and treat jaundice in newborns.
17. Patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy.
18. Patient death or serious disability associated with a burn incurred from any source while being cared for in a healthcare facility.
19. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of restraints or bedrails while being cared for in a healthcare facility
20. Death or significant injury of a patient or staff member resulting from a physical assault (i.e., battery) that occurs within or on the grounds of a healthcare facility.
These twenty medical events are definite red flags for medical malpractice from the National Quality Forum. If you or a loved one has experienced any of these events, call a personal injury attorney that can handle the process of medical malpractice cases.
