The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

A Rhode Island hospital has been slapped with a $150,000 fine and ordered to install video cameras in its operating room after its fifth wrong-site surgery since 2007. In 2007, brain surgeons in the hospital operated on the wrong side of the brain three times. In the most recent surgery, a patient was supposed to have surgeries performed on two different fingers, but the surgeon performed both surgeries on the same finger.

The surgical error was due to a failure to follow appropriate procedure, a sign that the hospital as a whole did not have a culture of safety, which is especially distressing given that it is the teaching hospital for Brown University's Alpert Medical School. Surgical protocols ask that a surgeon mark the site himself and that before cutting the surgical team should take a moment to be sure they will be cutting the right patient and the right body part. Instead, the marking was performed by someone other than the surgeon, and the part marked was the wrist, not the fingers to be operated. Before performing the second surgery, the team did not pause to discuss which finger should be operated upon.

To overcome this, state officials have asked the hospital to institute a number of changes. The hospital has 45 days to install video and audio recorders in its operating rooms, and has been ordered to tape every doctor performing surgery at least twice a year. In addition, the hospital must assign a clinical employee who is not a part of the surgical team to observe all surgeries at the hospital for at least a year.

If you are hurt by a surgical error like wrong-site surgery, you may have additional medical expenses, a prolonged recovery period, or lasting disability. A medical malpractice lawsuit can compensate you for your injuries, punish hospitals and doctors that have a culture of carelessness that promotes error, and potentially save others from a similar error. The medical malpractice lawyers at The Cochran Firm can help. Please contact us today for a free consultation.