Patients who deal with serious allergies may be familiar with precautions taken in New York hospitals during surgical procedures. However, the surgical environment can be intense, demanding quick decisions in response to serious situations. The potential for human error exists, and a recent study indicates that medication errors are actually quite common in this setting. The study noted that nearly half of the operations included involve at least one medication mistake.
Patients who deal with serious allergies may be familiar with precautions taken in New York hospitals during surgical procedures. However, the surgical environment can be intense, demanding quick decisions in response to serious situations. The potential for human error exists, and a recent study indicates that medication errors are actually quite common in this setting. The study noted that nearly half of the operations included involve at least one medication mistake.
The study, conducted over several months in 2013 and 2014 at a Massachusetts hospital, evaluated prescription medication errors from the pre-op setting through post-op. Of 277 surgeries included, 124 involved at least one error related to drugs. More than 3,500 administrations of medications occurred during these surgeries, and there were nearly 200 errors. Four of every five of these errors were deemed to be preventable.
Although no deaths resulted from the medication errors reviewed, 2 percent of the errors were categorized as posing a risk of death. Two of every three medication errors in this study were noted as serious. Those conducting the study noted that the complexity and the pressure of the surgery environment can result in mistakes, making it important to improve safeguards to minimize risks for the patients. The hospital used for the study is actually one of the nation’s leading institutions with regard to patient safety, which indicates that the statistics could be even more serious on a national level.
A patient who has suffered a medical setback because of a medication error during surgery might have grounds for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit, especially if the error could have bee preventable. Legal assistance might be necessary as records are gathered and evaluated to ensure that the facts support the claim. In some cases, a lawyer might help in negotiating a settlement with the medical professionals or institution involved.
