A recent Johns Hopkins study confirms that preventable medical errors are the third most frequent cause of death for American adults. About 700 Americans die everyday due to medical mistakes. This troubling statistic illustrates the gravity of a medical mistake made by a doctor, nursing home or hospital. Sadly, the consequence of this medical malpractice is often lethal. Common medical mistakes include wrong site surgery, medication errors, patient falls and the development of pressure ulcers (also known as bedsores or decubitus ulcers).

The study’s investigator, Dr. Martin Makary, attributes the persistent problem to a lack of communication and consistency in the American healthcare field. Simply put, when a hospital or nursing home makes a mistake, rather than disseminating the information so that other facilities can learn from the error, the internal investigation is deemed ‘proprietary’ and withheld. This leads to the same preventable errors being made over and over again. Our nursing homes and hospitals are not learning from their mistakes.

“Never Events” in Healthcare

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is a US federal government agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement to nursing homes, hospitals and medical professionals. In an attempt to prevent medical errors, CMS has created a list of ‘never events in healthcare.’ These ‘never events’ are not able to be reimbursed by federally funded health insurance. In other words, these events should never happen, so if they do occur, the healthcare provider cannot get paid to fix them.

CMS defines the following preventable medical mistakes as ‘never events’:

Surgical Events

Surgery performed on the wrong body part
Surgery performed on the wrong patient
Wrong surgical procedure on a patient
Retention of a foreign object or surgical tool in a patient after surgery or other procedure
Intraoperative or immediately post-operative death in a normal health patient (defined as a Class 1 patient for purposes of the American Society of Anesthesiologists patient safety initiative)

Product or Device Events

Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics provided by the healthcare facility
Patient death or serious disability associated with the use or function of a device in patient care in which the device is used or functions other than as intended
Patient death or serious disability associated with intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a healthcare facility

Patient Protection Events

Infant discharged to the wrong person
Patient death or serious disability associated with patient elopement (disappearance) for more than four hours
Patient suicide, or attempted suicide resulting in serious disability, while being cared for in a healthcare facility

Care Management Events

Patient death or serious disability associated with a medication error (e.g., error involving the wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong patient, wrong time, wrong rate, wrong preparation, or wrong route of administration)
Patient death or serious disability associated with a hemolytic reaction due to the administration of ABO-incompatible blood or blood products
Maternal death or serious disability associated with labor or delivery on a low-risk pregnancy while being cared for in a healthcare facility
Patient death or serious disability associated with hypoglycemia, the onset of which occurs while the patient is being cared for in a healthcare facility
Death or serious disability (kernicterus) associated with failure to identify and treat hyperbilirubinemia in neonates
Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers (bedsore) acquired after admission to a healthcare facility
Patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy

Environmental Events

Patient death or serious disability associated with an electric shock while being cared for in a healthcare facility
Any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other gas to be delivered to a patient contains the wrong gas or is contaminated by toxic substances
Patient death or serious disability associated with a burn incurred from any source while being cared for in a healthcare facility
Patient death associated with a patient fall while being cared for in a healthcare facility
Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of restraints or bedrails while being cared for in a healthcare facility

Criminal Events

Any instance of care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other licensed healthcare provider
Abduction of a patient of any age
Sexual assault on a patient within or on the grounds of a healthcare facility
Death or significant injury of a patient or staff member resulting from a physical assault (i.e., battery) that occurs within or on the grounds of a healthcare facility

Medical Errors in a Florida Nursing Home or Hospital: What Do I Do Now?

If you’ve been injured by a preventable medical mistake in a nursing home or hospital in Florida, report the incident to the State of Florida Department of Health immediately. Once you’ve reported the incident, speak with a Florida medical malpractice attorney to learn your rights in suing a nursing home or hospital for a preventable medical error.

Once you’ve reported the medical malpractice to the appropriate agency, contact our Florida medical malpractice lawyer. For a free consultation regarding your potential nursing home or hospital malpractice case, call us today at 561.316.7207.