Cardiac disease is dangerous and life-threatening. Therefore, it's understandable that when a physician suggests surgical intervention to treat a heart problem, you and your loved ones take the recommendation under serious advisement. Most patients aren't experts on...
Seek compensation for surgical errors that harmed you
We recently discussed how universal protocols can help to prevent surgical errors. These errors can range from minor inconveniences to life-threatening events. It is imperative that all surgeons have some sort of protocol in place to prevent errors. When they don't...
How following universal protocol helps prevent surgical errors
If you know someone scheduled for surgery, then you should find comfort in knowing that there is a Universal Protocol in place. It outlines a set procedure doctors should follow to reduce the risk of operating either on the wrong site or person or performing the wrong...
How do pharmacy errors take place?
When you pick up your prescriptions at the pharmacy, how often do you carefully examine the pills? You may not even really be able to tell them apart—especially if the majority of them are white, generic substitutes for name brand drugs. That's what makes it...
Too Many Distractions Can Lead to Avoidable Medical Errors
Working with patients in a health care setting is among the most important jobs one can have, and it carries some of the biggest responsibilities. Whether the health care worker is a physician, a nurse, or even a pharmacist they are required to pay very close...
Is poor communication to blame for surgical ‘never events?’
An article published this summer in JAMA Surgery journal reported that preventable, critical surgical errors are still occurring all over America's hospital systems. Research indicated that approximately .01 percent of surgeries result in foreign bodies like sponges...
Medicare pushing for improved hospital patient safety
Sometimes, a person experiences a worsening of their health during or after a hospital stay. In some instances, this occurs as a result of things outside of a hospital's control. In others though, it comes about from a mistake by the hospital and its staff. Such...
Even with imaging, hernia can be hard to diagnose
Doctors in New Mexico often have trouble diagnosing inguinal hernias in patients when they do not have a visible bulge. Even when imaging techniques are used on patients with hernia symptoms, inguinal hernias are often misdiagnosed. At the latest annual meeting of the...
Decline in morcellation does not increase complications
Some New Mexico gynecologists may still use a tool called a power morcellator in hysterectomies. The process of morcellation, in which a woman's uterus is sliced into smaller pieces for minimally invasive surgical removal, is a controversial one. A study published in...
Safety checklists for anesthesiologists inconsistently applied
Some procedures performed by anesthesiologists in New Mexico require placement of a unilateral nerve block for surgeries that involve a right or left side. In this situation, there is a potential for needle placement and surgery at the wrong location. Protocols that...