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What is wrong-site surgery?

A: Wrong-site surgery is a type of preventable medical error, which, according to wrong-site surgery statistics, occurs approximately 40 times per week in hospitals, doctors' offices and other healthcare facilities across the country. If you or someone you love has been the victim of an Ohio medical malpractice, speak with an Ohio malpractice lawyer. 

This type of surgical error occurs when surgeons operate on either the wrong part of the body, the wrong side of the body or the wrong patient entirely and can be the result of poor data integrity, failure to mark the part of the body to be operated on accurately (or failure to mark it at all), using the wrong patient’s chart before an operation begins, or other mistakes in key points of the surgical process.

The Joint Commission, the body that oversees healthcare accreditation in the United States, unveiled a plan called the Targeted Solutions Tools to help minimize the errors that lead to this medical malpractice problem. This process includes additional safeguards in the holding area where patients are kept just before surgery as well as in the operation room before surgery commences. Tests that implemented these measures, however, still left room for a 19% error rate. 

Additionally, it’s estimated that 39% of wrong-site surgery mishaps are the result of clerical errors when office staffers take down patient information or record data on prescribed treatments or procedures, so it’s clear that the process of accurately documenting this type of data needs to be re-examined as well. 

If you’ve been injured, contact an attorney to discuss your options for proceeding with an Ohio medical malpractice claim.

Help From an Ohio Malpractice Lawyer

Do you have questions about your malpractice claim or medical negligence lawsuit? Before you hire an attorney, order our FREE Ohio medical malpractice claim guide to learn about your rights and to learn more about surgery malpractice and wrong site surgery statistics. To schedule a FREE consultation or to learn more about your rights, contact a lawyer at Mellino Robenalt LLC today – 1-216-241-1901 or 1-888-457-1147.