When I first read the link (without actually reading the article) I honestly thought they were talking about harmless “items” physicians left in their patients’ bodies intentionally to keep them from developing some sort of condition or something like that after a surgery. Mistakes happen, for sure, but this one is more on the level of medical negligence.
According to the article on surgical items…”Such mistakes are considered so egregious and so preventable that they’re referred to in the medical world as “never events.” They simply are not supposed to happen.” Of course they are not supposed to happen! Yet, they still do, and because of such a “preventable” mistake people die. “Never events”? Apparently they happen more often than not..
Thousands of patients a year leave the nation’s operating rooms with surgical items in their bodies.
“Yet thousands of hospitals and surgical centers have failed to adopt readily available technologies that all but eliminate the risk of leaving sponges in patients.” There we have IBM inventing robots as doctors and training them to take the physicians licensing exam and get a MD, programming them to work with other real physicians and assist in real life cases where decisions need to be made, training them to think like humans…and much more.
But nobody can figure out a way to keep this risk of leaving items inside patients’ bodies from happening. Does that make sense to anyone? It certainly doesn’t make sense to me…
Perhaps something as simple as being cautious and aware of the surgery they are performing would be enough not to spend thousands of dollars coming up with a solution to such a “preventable” issue.
Slaves were exploited in the sense that part of the income which they produced was expropriated by their owners. This brings me back to what John wrote this morning on why Washignton is so polarized. He is talking about deregulaton, deprivatization, lack of liberties to people. Is history repeating itself? or did we never really leave those old ways behind?
Unintended consequences: laws prohibiting physicians from prescribing drugs without a prior physical examination are killing people.
Deadly policies and more deadly policies! Between this case of law restriction and other similar cases mentioned on this blog were medical practicioners are prohibited to help people for one reason or another reason, they are just going to end up killing thousands of people every day! Isn’t the main goal of functional health care policies to protect and regulate the system so that discrepancies and negligence don’t take place? It seems that policies themselves are a big reason why this system is so incredibly flawed…and not helping anyone.
There are 27 million slaves worldwide, more than in 1860.
Only 27 million? I would have thought there were more than 27 million taxpayers in the United States that can expect to pay in far more than they will ever get back in benefits (net of reasonable costs for the judiciary, defense, security and a few other protective functions).
“The facilities that consider all the costs related to preventing retained sponges are finding that there is a cost savings.”
Hospital administrators cannot make any changes that would cost more money – even if it saves enough lives to warrant the cost – without pleading their case before the Grand Counter of the Beans.
“There are 27 million slaves worldwide, more than in 1860.”
Shame. Its sad that society wont evolve in many areas.
“Thousands of patients a year leave the nation’s operating rooms with surgical items in their bodies.”
What a terrible way to leave the hospital. I understand that accidents happen, but thousands? Come on!
When I first read the link (without actually reading the article) I honestly thought they were talking about harmless “items” physicians left in their patients’ bodies intentionally to keep them from developing some sort of condition or something like that after a surgery. Mistakes happen, for sure, but this one is more on the level of medical negligence.
According to the article on surgical items…”Such mistakes are considered so egregious and so preventable that they’re referred to in the medical world as “never events.” They simply are not supposed to happen.” Of course they are not supposed to happen! Yet, they still do, and because of such a “preventable” mistake people die. “Never events”? Apparently they happen more often than not..
@ The patient leaving with surgical items in their body
This article disgusted me. I am going to think twice before I get any surgery done.
Thousands of patients a year leave the nation’s operating rooms with surgical items in their bodies.
“Yet thousands of hospitals and surgical centers have failed to adopt readily available technologies that all but eliminate the risk of leaving sponges in patients.” There we have IBM inventing robots as doctors and training them to take the physicians licensing exam and get a MD, programming them to work with other real physicians and assist in real life cases where decisions need to be made, training them to think like humans…and much more.
But nobody can figure out a way to keep this risk of leaving items inside patients’ bodies from happening. Does that make sense to anyone? It certainly doesn’t make sense to me…
Perhaps something as simple as being cautious and aware of the surgery they are performing would be enough not to spend thousands of dollars coming up with a solution to such a “preventable” issue.
Slaves were exploited in the sense that part of the income which they produced was expropriated by their owners. This brings me back to what John wrote this morning on why Washignton is so polarized. He is talking about deregulaton, deprivatization, lack of liberties to people. Is history repeating itself? or did we never really leave those old ways behind?
Unintended consequences: laws prohibiting physicians from prescribing drugs without a prior physical examination are killing people.
Deadly policies and more deadly policies! Between this case of law restriction and other similar cases mentioned on this blog were medical practicioners are prohibited to help people for one reason or another reason, they are just going to end up killing thousands of people every day! Isn’t the main goal of functional health care policies to protect and regulate the system so that discrepancies and negligence don’t take place? It seems that policies themselves are a big reason why this system is so incredibly flawed…and not helping anyone.
There are 27 million slaves worldwide, more than in 1860.
Only 27 million? I would have thought there were more than 27 million taxpayers in the United States that can expect to pay in far more than they will ever get back in benefits (net of reasonable costs for the judiciary, defense, security and a few other protective functions).
Unintended consequences: laws prohibiting physicians from prescribing drugs without a prior physical examination are killing people.
Crazy, wrongful regulations are killing people! I thought we had already established that. Thanks ObamaCare..
“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”
― Abraham Lincoln
Enough said.
“The facilities that consider all the costs related to preventing retained sponges are finding that there is a cost savings.”
Hospital administrators cannot make any changes that would cost more money – even if it saves enough lives to warrant the cost – without pleading their case before the Grand Counter of the Beans.