GET A FREE CASE EVALUATION. NO FEE UNLESS WE WIN.
Call or Text Us 503-222-6333

New Report on Medical Errors: Wrong-Site Surgery

Last year I posted an update on a frightening trend: surgery being performed on the wrong body part, or even on the wrong patient.

Since then, an ophthalmologist here in Portland operated on the wrong eye of a 4-year-old. This should never happen: in 2004, the Joint Commission (the group that certifies health care providers) issued a set of rules to prevent these surgical errors.

These rules were supposed to be mandatory for surgeries, but Kaiser Health News reports “Based on state data, Joint Commission officials estimate that wrong-site surgery occurs 40 times a week in U.S. hospitals and clinics.”

How does this keep happening? While some wrong-site errors inflict no lasting harm—either because they are corrected early or did not involve a major surgery—others are catastrophic.

Although medical mistakes can happen to cautious and prepared surgeons, it is alarming that they continue at this rate despite universal medical protocol in place to prevent these tragedies. Should this be attributed to the culture of silence in the medical community?

Previous Blog Posts:

PORTLAND OREGON

1050 SW 6th Ave #1100
Portland, OR 97204

LAKE OSWEGO OREGON

4230 Galewood St #200
Lake Oswego, OR 97035

BEND OREGON

750 NW Charbonneau St #201
Bend, OR 97701

VANCOUVER WASHINGTON

1220 Main St #400
Vancouver, WA 98660

Accessibility Toolbar

logo