10 medical blunders
Last updated: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 PrintAfter five months of suffering doctors at a Czech clinic finally discovered the reason for the 66-year-old Zdenka Kopeckova's abdominal pain - a spatula-like surgical instrument was left behind in her abdomen after gynaecological surgery.
This is only the latest in a string of medical blunders patients regularly endure. Did you think that brain ops are only done with a hand drills in the movies? Well, unfortunately not.
Surgical and medical blunders happen everywhere. And they result in many court cases world-wide, especially in the United States, where there are legal firms specialising in taking erring doctors to court.
But before you cancel your upcoming operation, keep in mind that the risk you run of something like this happening to you is fairly small.
It’s interesting to note, however, that errors do not only involve surgery. These are merely the ones that usually reach the newspapers, because they are so sensational and the results often so final. Mistakes can occur with any of the following:
- Medication
- Medical procedures
- Misdiagnosis
- Administrative errors
- Laboratory results
- Equipment malfunction
Here are some spectacular medical blunders that have hit the headlines in the past few years.
Towel trouble. Bonnie Valle donated her body to science. A year after her death, her body was dissected by medical students, who found that a hand towel had been left behind her left lung during surgery for emphysema seven years before. She had complained of chest pains incessantly in the years before her death.
Brain drain. An elderly man, who had developed bleeding on the left side of his brain underwent surgery at a Rhode Island hospital. However, the surgeon operated on the wrong side of his brain. The patient survived.
Mastectomy mistake. Linda McDougal (aged 46) underwent a double mastectomy in the US, only to find out after the operation that she did not have cancer. Her test results had been switched with those of another woman.
Hear, hear. In 1991, a patient in Iowa City, had an operation to his ear, because he suffered from vertigo. You guessed correctly – the wrong ear was operated on. He took the doctors to court.
HIV horror. Several Italian doctors from the Careggi hospital are in serious trouble after transplanting some organs belonging to a woman who was HIV-positive. It was only found out after the transplants that she had been infected.
Penny problem. A couple from Nevada took their young daughter to the doctor eight times before it was discovered that she had swallowed a penny. She had been consistently treated for respiratory infection. An X-ray finally revealed the source of the problem.
Wrong leg. Five people in the United Kingdom had the wrong leg amputated between the years 2003 and 2006, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Details are not available.
Deadly dose. A patient at the Brockton Hospital in the US, who suffered from depression, was prescribed the sedative Librium, instead of the anti-depressant lithium - at 60 times the normal dosage. The poor man died.
Drugs trial. Six healthy men recently took part in a drugs trial at Northwick Park Hospital in London. The men were given the anti-inflammatory drug, and soon after became ill. Several of them landed in the intensive care unit, suffering from organ failure. Two were said to be critically ill. They responded to treatment.
Drilling drama. And to end on a slightly more positive note, a Peruvian doctor used a drill from the hardware store and his own pair of pliers to do brain surgery on a man injured in a fight. There were no instruments at the hospital. The operation was successful.
(Susan Erasmus, Health24.com, updated July 2009)
(Sources: abc.net; weird.healthdiaries; cbsnews; irwinmitchell.com)
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Your Comments
Frightening stuff
This is scary, but I suppose it' s like getting into a car. the chances that something like this will happen have to be fairly remote, otherwise no one would ever go to hospital.
suing doctors
It is so difficult to sue doctors in SA. They all club together and patients don' t have a chance.
Shocking
There was also a blood transfusion in SA a few years ago where a patient was given blood from an HIV positive person.
pathetic
South africans don' t stand up for their rights
suing
Relatives of mine tried to take their GP on, but the other dotcors just said they could not believe that their esteemed colleaugue would send a bill for a consultation after just poking his head around a hospital door and greeting his patient.
Poor docs
They work under such pressure, of course they' re going to make mistakes. They are only human.
almost had an eye op
I went in for my wisdom teeth, but medical staff are required to explain the procedure before you go into the operating theatre. When they explained a drip will be inserted next to my eye, I got sceptical and asked if it was really neccessary, they confirmed that it is done with that specific eye operation, on which I could luckily correct them, as I was not there for an eye op...my file somehow got swopped with the patient next to me.....
Tagged
But now you wear a few coloured tags on which is written the nature of the operation to be performed. So RTFT doc!
Angry SA folk
Hehe
There are some real angry people in SA. What do some of these comments have to do with this article, get some counseling comment #4.
What can i say, s$%#t happens, but I hope not to me.
To Mike
This is an SA website, Mike - hence the comments.
Angry Patient
not only is this scary and shocking but really makes you think are these doctors qualified to work on you and why they hell do we the poor patients have to fork out the bill when they make the mistakes, had to same experience a few years ago when I was expecting my first child started spotting which is normal during pregnancy(that' s what I was told) the the stupid OB decided to a Pap Smear which only made the situation worst and resulted in miscarriage at 16 weeks???? Guess who paid the bill me!
The bar has to be raised
I am not sure what the scire is for someone to pass an exam in Medicine, but to me I believe they should get more than 80%. This like being Pilot or any other career with a small margin of error, the pass mark shouldn' t be 60%, what about the other 40% (nearly half of the info he/she does not know, then why pass him). But then again, its easy to become a doctor, how many times hve we heard of someone who passed himself as a doctor and been practicing, all you need is google the ailment and cure.
pathetic
just blame the doctors why dont u whenever it goes wrong its always them who get the blame
Happend to me
With the C-section of my first child, the administered the spinal block, but didn' t give enough time for it to work though. I felt every little detail, and it was the most horrible event ever. The effect of the drugs only started working after the op, while I was in the recovery room! Luckily the human body can resist alot!
SA
A nurse in a PMB private hospital, after being asked to put some sterilising ointment on a patient' s hand before drip insertion, proceeded to tape the ointment tube to the back of the patient' s hand. Hmm... I also watched in the same hospital as the admission nurse inflated the blood pressure tube before unsuccessfully trying to put it on my brother' s arm. This was followed by her peering confusedly at the thermometer reading, gripping the temperature sensitve bulb firmly between her own fingers
State hospital
Then there was the little matter of a patient being given antacid instead of antibiotic intravenously in a State Hospital. She died. The nurse still wanted to lie about what happened, but unfortunately for her, it happened right in front of the lady' s husband.
Wrong Medicine
I had the horrific experience of almost dying after the wrong medicine was given to me in hospital. had a virus, and was treated for something else. And after I tried getting hold of the files it disappeared misteriously. Be careful of what they give you and ask lots of questions about everything they give to you
Health professions council
They can tell you if anyone else has laid a charge against a specific doctor. It strengthens your case so much if there are already 2 or 3 similar cases pending.
If only
What if a person sophocated every time an accountant made a mistake?
What if someone bled to death each time a cashier wrongly rang an item twice?
Or was crippled if he didn' t get his KFC fast enough?
Maybe got H1N1 from filling up your car?
Perhaps then people will be less bitter and more grateful towards the doctor that is treating them and the queue waiting behind them. All while earning just R42 per hour incl. overtime.
Doctors
HOW MUTCH OF THE MISTAKES ARISE IN THE CAPABILITIES OF THE AFTER CARE STAFF, ARE THERE ENOUGH DEDICATED STAFF?
Doctors
Like a SA comedian once said the doctors PRACTICE medicine. Maybe one day they will get it right
Doctors
It is all very well for you to complain but we spend years (lots of them!) at medical school to limit the chance of us making mistakes. Even so, we are only human. Even the best doctors can make a mistake, like the best lawyers can lose a case or the best athlete can come 3rd. It' s a fact of life. It is acceptable to complain about negligence or ineptitude, but have some perspective: you are not their only patient. Don' t blame doctors for everything - a pap smear is unlikely to cause miscarriage
e
docs study for 7 years and still make mistakes ?
if u can' t do the job then u shudn' t have studied for it as not everyone can be a doctor ..
if i made mistakes at my work all the time i wud be fired.
all it takes is a few extra seconds / minutes double checking something that cud save a life. doc' s in sa are terrible. all they know is aspirin and pains and headache and antibiotics for everything else. and for a 5 minutes consultatition u pay over R200 - R400 and after hrs more than a grand..
SA Private infrastructure is great
A few members of my family have had to go in for minor to serious ops over the past few years, and we have never received anything but exceptional care from the Cape Town private health care system.
Big up to them!
It' s all fine and well...
...to expect doctors to never make mistakes, but the human body is not like a car engine - it' s complicated and can react in unexplainable ways. Sure, cutting off the wrong leg is a different story, but doctors are only human too. To expect a zero margin of error is laughable. If you aren' t happy, get a second opinion. The onus is on you!
untrained staff
the day after my C-section, the nursing assistant said I could shower as & plaster is waterproof, after this " refreshing" shower, I had excrutiating pain due to my cut being infected. wasnt supposed to shower as I had excessive bleeding & a non-waterproof was used(even if waterproof special precautions must be taken when showering) when I called hosp only to be told the smell & pain is the after birth bleeding not infection - my dr changed my dressing daily for a week & I had to pay for plasters
why doctors?
Why do doctors always get the blame? How about blaming the patients once in a while who don' t take dr advice, don' t drink meds as should and even lie. I worked in a hospital where patient lied and said she had gastro and was admitted for it over the weekend only to have bled out to death come monday morning cos she had been too embarrassed(?) to say that she was pregnant and bleeding.
more sleep please!
I agree with above comment. Patients aren' t always so innocent as they claim to be - have had first hand experience. Studies also show that your ability to function properly decreases with lack of sleep - so until better overtime conditions come into effect, mistakes will happen (and obviously not intentionally)
South African Doctors
During the period 1997 - 2005 I was unemployed, not helped by the fact that I suffered from depression. Not only was I treated free of charge (with success I am now gainfully employed, pension, medical aid, paid leave - the works) but when I had to have my gall-bladder removed in 2002, the doctors and nurses at Provincial Hospital in Port Elizabeth truly impressed me. Not only was the operation a success, but it was free as well. Unlike many in S.A. I got very lucky. Respect.
Docs
Guess u guys should know what u' re in dere 4 at d initial start..saving lives, so i see no reason y som1 that cald his/her a doc mess around wit peoples lives..u shouldn' t make silly mistakes pls..u kw.., practising 4 7yrs is no small stuff so u guys i guess is time to sit up and kw what u' re in 4 nd do it.
Any person that misbehaves should b totally in for it.,cos it' s som1' s live nd there' s no duplicate 4 it. Don' t pray 4 it, but any bug that' s gona mess around wit mi or any of my people.......... ?! anyway.......! just pray i dnt surviv it cos.... No application of justice wit sympathy., he' s gona smell hell nd tell what satan ' s got cooking in his pot. Just pray 4 u guys nd wish u best of luck always. but u docs should stil use ur skulls...
............Ozone
Wrong Op - Almost
Due to State Hospital Nursing Staff mixing up the files, I almost went for a stomach op while recovering from a back op.
That being said, my back op was done by a student doc under close supervision and all I can say is that I doubt his superior could have done a better job! I have no problems with my back!!
Over-medicated
After nearly losing my child at 27 weeks, the doctor asked a sister to give me a certain drip. The quantity a had to be 8 drops per minute and never to go more than 34 per minute. the sister accidently put me on 80 drops. After passing out and almost suffering heart failure, the doctor figured the problem and really shouted at her in front of me. a close call but with a good result. the staff at Joburg Gen were great and saved my sons life even though he was born 1 week later. a great hospital
You think you can do better?
How interesting: the same people that complain about the Dr not spending time wth them also complain about the R300 consultation fee. Try getting a mechanic or plumber for less. I very seldom see fit, thin, non-smokers that complain about Dr' s but the people that look after themselves the least, like to complain most. Try to make 25-40 important decisions daily (with the untrained patient as main source for info) and see how many mistakes you will make in 30 years of practise.
doctors - insurance
Why do S.A. doctors bother to carry liability insurance - try claiming against it - not one doctor will testify against another - however off the record they will quite happily criticise each other and the bad workmanship.
Doctors be prsised
Our dearest doctors need to be praised,when they strike u blame them for the lost lives ,when on duty u still blame them,these ppl are very important to the society, i don' t believe that people in their right minds choose to kill or wrongly op patients, they are human just like us.We all make mistakes.SA is a coutry with +/-7000 doctors can u blv that? Maybe we shld consider switching our careers to this field and get the feel of it, maybe we' ll be to say -yes! doctors are also human,afterwards
HIV+
I' m living proof of Dr' s negligence by giving me a HIV+ blood transfusion and all I got was, sorry he made a mistake. I' ts being 6 years and there isn' t a day that goes by that I don' t remember how I was treated ( like a criminal ), when I got a Lawyer and tried suing the Dr. The doctors are the only ones that have the right to sentence us with the death penalty, because that' s what I got.
Doctors
The saying goes:
Civil engineers are held liable for deaths if their bridge or building design experiment mistakes.
Doctors cremate the design/experiment mistakes.
medical stories
I worked in the medical businness for 15 years I can tell you a few shocking stories as well its happening more and more here in South Africa. Get you insurance up to date now. Or pay the penalty
medical stories
thats why you gotta check their uni results bru. if he got less that 90% do you really want him workin on you
To HIV + (no 36)
Sorry to hear about your mistake. You are sadly completely unfounded in your anger. You got HIV from the donor and the negligence was by the Blood Bank. Dr' s dont test the blood that they prescribe. What would have happened if you didn' t get blood?
medical stories
I would like to know how many of us would not make a mistake in our jobs because we have had to work a 48 or 72-hour strait shift as there was no one to relive them and there is sick people still needing medical attention.
medical stories
No wonder it ' s called practice after 7 years of studying
Nothwick Park
I had an operation at Northwick Park once... about 6 months after the chaps had that nightmare with the drugs they were testing.
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