Surgical Errors Can Last a Lifetime

Surgical mistakes are preventable events that devastate families by creating needless complications that require corrective surgery or treatment in the best scenarios and in the worst cases, these errors can even result in cause death.

In addition, these mistakes are driving up the cost of healthcare. Although precise numbers are difficult to attain, experts believe that the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year may be attributed to medical errors. According to a recent study, our country spends an average of $55 billion annually on liability claims arising out of medical mistakes.

Study Reveals that Simple Steps Save Lives

Simple measures such as verifying the procedure to be done with the patient, marking the correct location for the surgery on the patient, verifying that all of the necessary equipment is available and double-checking the operating schedule take a minimal amount of time and drastically reduce the chances of error.

A recent study in Amsterdam compared the identified surgical errors from 294 malpractice claims in the years 2004 and 2005 with the SURPASS surgical checklist. SURPASS is the abbreviation for Surgical Patient Safety System, a 12-page checklist for each step of the surgical process. The study found that of the 10 deaths that occurred, at least one of the factors contributing to the deaths of four of the patients could be found on the checklist.

Using Checklists Reduces Perils and Costs of Care

The cost of medical errors does not only fall on patient's shoulders. Healthcare providers have to pay for the treatments and surgeries necessary to correct these errors. Several studies have found that healthcare providers can avoid these expenses when they use a checklist.

Despite the proven benefits of using checklists to prevent errors, hospitals in the United States are still slow to implement them. At this time only about one in four hospitals use them.

The costs of not implementing checklists are significant to everyone. Anyone who has suffered a complication or death of a family member as a result of a medical error should consult a local personal injury attorney who can review their options with them.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/14/us-surgery-malpractice-idUSTRE70D0TU20110114