Specialties

Medical Malpractice

"A 39 year old man is admitted to the hospital for treatment of a minor infection. The physician orders a drug to be administered by IV and instead the nurse administers it by direct injection over a period of time which causes the patient to develop seizures and ultimately die from cardiac arrest."

It was reported in September, 2000 that since 1995 at least 1,720 hospital patients have been accidentally killed and 9,584 others injured from actions or inaction of nurses across the country who have been affected by cuts in staff and other cost reducing methods adopted by hospitals around the country.

In December, 2001 it was noted by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, that as of 1998 only 15 instances of physicians operating on the wrong body part or wrong patient occurred. Since that time, 136 have been reported to the Commission. Such errors are preventable with appropriate pre-operative measures.