According to the SanFrancisco Chronicle, avoidable medical mistakes are on the rise in the Bay Area and throughout California.
A recent report entitled "Events that a never supposed to happen in state hospitals," spells out in frightening detail the frequency of "never" events - i.e. things that are never supposed to happen in California hospitals.
For example, just last year California hospitals reported close to 200 cases of foreign objects left in patents after surgery. At San Francisco General, a 4-by-8-inch piece of surgical sponge was left inside a patient after an eight-hour surgery. The patient had to undergo additional surgeries just to correct the physician's error.
Other alarming statistics include a 100% increase in surgeries performed on the wrong patient, a 78% increase in bedsores acquired after admission, a 36% increase in deaths associated with a fall and a whopping 131% increase in sexual assaults on patients.
Recent studies have shown safety measures are the key to reducing California medical malpractice.
As a California personal injury attorney concerned about medical malpractice, I am hopeful that these studies exposing the problems throughout many California hospitals will finally bring needed changes to the care provided.
