Wrong Site Surgery and Medical Malpractice

Although rare, wrong site surgery does occur, and the consequences for patients are often devastating or even life-threatening. In busy hospitals, rushed staff may fail to mark a surgical area properly and clearly, medical files may be mixed up, or a simple miscommunication combined with a failure to follow pre-op procedures can lead to wrong site surgery.

Every hospital is required to follow a protocol prior to beginning any surgical procedure to ensure the operation is performed is necessary and at the correct surgical site.

Universal Pre-Surgery Protocol

Prior to beginning a surgical procedure, doctors and nurses are required to follow a strict protocol to ensure the operation goes as planned.

Pre-Procedure Verification

Prior to proceeding with a surgery, the medical staff are required to verify, as a group, the proper procedure to be performed, the correct patient and the site of the surgery. This is done by reviewing the medical records one last time to ensure a mistake has not been made.

Mark the Surgical Site

It is critical that the surgery site be marked clearly by one of the medical staff who will ultimately be held accountable for the procedure and must be present during the surgery.

Time Out

In every surgical procedure, one of the medical staff should be designated to start a “time out” prior to making any incisions. During the time out, all members of the surgical team must go over the procedure, site and patient identity one last time to double check for any potential mistakes.

Often times a surgeon may ignore the time out, or simply skip the process to expedite the surgery. This is usually the fatal mistake that leads to a wrong site surgery and serious damage to the patient.

Recent Cases

Recently, a hospital in Rhode Island was fined $150,000 and forced to install video cameras in all operating rooms after it had its fifth wrong site surgery  since 2007. Some of the most damaging instances at this hospital included three different brain surgery patients who suffered permanent brain injury after surgeons operated on the wrong part of the brain.

In another case, a patient was supposed to have two different procedures performed on two different fingers. Instead, the two procedures were performed on one finger. After an investigation, it was found that they medical team failed to clearly mark the two sites, and skipped the mandatory time out.

Hospital Liability

If a patient suffers undue injury due to a failure in pre-procedure protocol leading to wrong site surgery, then the hospital, surgeon and other medical staff may be held liable for all resulting damages. A failure to properly perform a surgical procedure can often be attributed to medical negligence, which is grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Patients who suffer due to such medical negligence have the right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit demanding compensation for medical costs, lost income, future lost earnings, and pain and suffering. A medical malpractice attorney can ensure patient rights are protected.