State report reveals surgical errors

A damning new survey of another state’s malpractice lawsuits reveals an uncomfortable trend in how doctors treat their patients, according to news sources. Delaware residents may be unsettled to hear how surgical errors and other medical horror stories are playing out in a southern state, and how that reflects on the larger issue of malpractice across America. While the state in question has more doctors than any other state in the country, the results speak poorly to the state of medicine the nation over. 

A new investigation launched by Consumer Reports suggests that for as many surgery errors and missed diagnoses that get reported by the news, there may be many more which go unreported. The report, called the Patient Safe Project, analyzes licensing records that detail mistakes made by physicians on probation. The varying types of mishaps are staggering in their scope. 

In one case, a woman who needed an ovary removed was subjected to a surgery which removed the wrong one. In another, a doctor who misdiagnosed a fractured thigh bone was responsible for an amputation needed to save the patient’s life. In a third, a doctor ordered some four million doses of the powerful painkiller hydrocodone, but only documented a small fraction of them. Obviously, this points to a disturbing trend of failure to account on the part some in the medical community. 

While not all of these cases pertain to medical malpractice, surgical errors of the type described above happen here in Delaware as well. That is why it is so important for patients who believe they have been the victim of malpractice to come forward. Seeking support in such cases is the first step not only in seeking remuneration for damages, but also in ensuring such errors are not suffered by other patients. 

Source: Fox News, “Report reveals doctor DUIs, botched surgeries and other medical horror stories in California“, Mar. 29, 2016