California Hospitals Make Startling Error Disclosures

Data compiled by California’s Department of Public Health shows serious errors at California hospitals affecting the health and well-being of over a 100 Californians each month.

The reports have been serious enough for one lawmaker calling for stopping reimbursements to hospitals involved in some of these errors.

The errors reported in California hospitals read like something straight out of the manual for incompetents – mistaken placement of a CTdefine scan of one patient into the file of another leading to the removal of the wrong person’s appendix in the Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, improper connection of a ventilator hose leading to inadequate oxygen supply to a 9-day old infant and the list of such incidents goes on.

Some of these errors have actually resulted in fatalities. Neither 76-year old Virginia Fahres, nor her relatives would have ever imagined that her visit to the Pomona Valley Medical Center would be the last one in her life literally. A nurse gave her two drugs, none of them prescribed by the doctor, resulting in her death.

In all, California hospitals disclosed a huge 1,002 cases of serious ‘medical harm’ in their premises between July 2007 and May 2008. This is the first time that the hospitals are making a disclosure of this kind, thanks to a law in the state that calls for hospitals to inform about serious injuries to their patients to health regulators.

A new state law enacted in 2006 demands that hospitals report major patient injuries as “adverse events” to the Public Health Department, says The Los Angeles Times. The bill lists out 28 such events that should be reported to the States Department of Public Health.

The injuries are commonly referred to as "never events" or "adverse events", because they could have been prevented.

The data compiled by the Department of Public Health in California shows that doctors of Californian hospitals have performed wrong surgical methods or operated on the wrong body part or on wrong patients in 41 surgeries.

‘Wrong events’ like foreign objects left in surgical patients were reported more than 145 times. More then 1,000 “never events" have been reported and 10 hospitals have been fined $25,000 during the period mentioned in the report. Other more serious events include the death of 34 people while under anesthesiadefine.

Speaking about these events, consumer group Health Access California’s lobbyist Beth Capell, said, “I think the never events are a wake-up call to everyone about the safety of California hospitals.”

A senior medical director of the US San Diego Medical Center, Dr Angela Scioscia said the new law requiring public disclosure was a good thing as it would be a ‘great opportunity to make rapid improvements.’

Dr. Scioscia added, “We don't want people to be afraid when they come into hospitals, because they are becoming safer and safer all the time.”