Hospitals Are Fined for Preventable Medical Errors

Written by Adam Peck Category: Injury Law January 16th, 2013 3 min read

What do twelve California hospitals have in common? All have been fined for preventable medical errors that injured or killed patients.

Alameda Hospital in Alameda. In 2009, seven patients were given fentanyl patches for pain without being properly evaluated for their medical necessity or dosage. This was a first citation.
Brotman Medical Center in Culver City. An unattended patient fell trying to get out of his wheelchair. He suffered bleeding in his skull and subsequently died. This was Brotman’s second penalty.
California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo. A patient died after being given the wrong dosage of methadone. This was a first citation.
Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz. A patient suffered kidney failure and hearing loss after receiving an overdose of chemotherapy for testicular cancer. This was a third penalty.
Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock. A guidewire (a thin wire inserted into an artery to guide a catheter) was left inside a patient during surgery and subsequently traveled into the heart before a second surgery was performed to remove it. This was a second citation.
Kaiser Foundation Hospital & Rehabilitation Center in Vallejo. A patient was implanted with a different patient’s lens during cataract surgery. This was a second citation.
Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center in Los Angeles. A burn patient undergoing skin graft surgery suffered severe brain damage when anesthesia was administered without an anesthesiologist present. This was a fourth penalty.
Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside. A large metal clamp was left inside a patient during surgery. This was a first citation.
Stanislaus Surgical Hospital in Modesto. Surgery was initiated on the wrong ankle. This was a first citation.
Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch. A patient with a potentially fatal, abnormal heart beat went into cardiac arrest and later died after not being attached to a cardiac monitor for 40 minutes. This was a first citation.
Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance. A bottle of solution used during a kidney surgery was left inside the patient. The bottle wasn’t discovered until the patient returned to the medical center for another operation
OC San Francisco Medical Center in San Francisco. A sponge was left inside a patient during surgery. This was a fifth penalty for the hospital.
Although considerable attention has been given lately to methods of eliminating medical errors and enhancing patient safety, the number of avoidable errors remain staggeringly high. In fact, in 1999 the Institute of Medicine reported that up to 98,000 patients die, each year, as a result of such events. This began a patient safety movement that is obviously still a long way from where it should be. It has not helped that the US Chamber of Commerce and the insurance industry have led a “blame the lawyers, blame the victims” crusade, known to some, as ‘tort reform’ or “lawsuit abuse”. We are all less safe when tort reform measures are successful.

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Written by Adam Peck

Expertise: Personal Injury

Adam J. Peck, ESQ is a principal with Peck Law Group, APC. In 2008, Mr. Adam Peck received his Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School where he graduated Cum Laude. His practice is primarily dedicated to representing Elders, Dependent Adults, along with their loved ones and family members, who have suffered horrific personal injuries.