Category: Hospital Negligence

Most Hospital Mistakes Never Reported

by John McKiggan

Medical malpractice lawyers know most potential victims of medical malpractice never file a claim. Recently a report by ABC News has confirmed that in the United States more than 80% of hospital errors are not reported by hospital employees.

Hospitals Don’t Learn From Mistakes?

The report analyzed data from hospitalized Medicare patients. Investigators determined even when mistakes were reported hospitals rarely changed their policies or practices to prevent repeated errors. Hospitals usually claimed that errors were not due to “systemic quality problems”.

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Posted in: Disclosure of Errors, Hospital Negligence, Medical Malpractice, Medication Errors, Nursing Errors, Prescription Errors, Surgical Errors, Uncategorized, X-Ray errors

Standard of Care for Nursing Students in Nova Scotia medical malpractice claims – McIntosh v. Isaac Walton Killam-Grace Health Centre

by John McKiggan

Justice Muise of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia recently released his reasons in McIntosh v. Isaac Walton Killam – Grace Health Centre.

The Facts

Ms. McIntoshs’ baby was delivered at the IWK by C-section after a period of pushing in an attempt to deliver vaginally. Ten days after the delivery she became aware of pain in her left hip. She had not had any prior problems with her hip before her delivery.

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Posted in: Hospital Negligence, Nursing Errors, Standard of Care, Uncategorized

Patient Safety Website Up and Running

by John McKiggan

The Canadian Patient Safety Institute, a non-profit organization, has created a new website designed to provide the public and health care providers with patient safety information from around the world.

The website is located at www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca

The goal of the website is to provide access to safety advisories, alerts and other resources as well as to allow users to share information to help enhance patient care and protection.

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Posted in: Anaesthesia Errors, Disclosure of Errors, Hospital Negligence, Medication Errors, Nursing Errors, Prescription Errors, Surgical Errors, Uncategorized, X-Ray errors

Quebec Orders Hospitals to Disclose Medical Errors

by John McKiggan

Quebec became the first province in Canada to require hospitals to publicly disclose medical errors. Quebec’s Department of Health and Social Services has announced a new registry that will collect standardized data from 275 hospitals across the province.

The system will document all reported medical errors including:

1. Patient falls;
2. Supply problems; and
3. Medical record errors.

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Posted in: Anaesthesia Errors, Disclosure of Errors, Hospital Negligence, Medical Malpractice, Medication Errors, Uncategorized

New “Superbug” Making Hospital Rounds

by John McKiggan

The recent series of C-Difficile infections in Cape Breton hospitals has brought some media attention to the problem of Hospital Acquired Infections.

I was doing some research on a case and came across information of a new antibiotic resistant “Superbug” that is being found in hospitals.

Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumonia or CRKP is an antibiotic-resistant organism that can cause infections in health care settings like hospitals and nursing homes. The bacteria is often associated with pneumonia, bloodstream infections, wound or surgical site infections, and meningitis.

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Posted in: Hospital Negligence, Infections, Uncategorized

Nova Scotia Medical Errors: C- difficile Infections kill 4 in Cape Breton Hospitals

by John McKiggan

Cape Breton District Health Authority has stated that 21 patients in two Cape Breton Hospitals have tested positive for the bacteria C. difficile. Four people have died as a result of the infections.

Hospital Acquired Infections a Deadly Problem

Nosocomial infections (Hospital acquired infections) are the fourth largest killer in Canada.

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Posted in: Hospital Negligence, Infections, Standard of Care, Uncategorized

Birth Injuries More Common During Night Shift

by John McKiggan

My colleague, Ches Crosbie recently posted about an American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology report that studied medical charts for more than two millions births in California over a 14 year period. According to the study children born between the hours of 10 PM and 4 AM were 22% more likely to develop cerebral palsy.

Ches suggested:

Hospitals already have issues with staff shortages and fatigued workers, so it makes sense to me that these problems might be worse during the “graveyard shift”.

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Posted in: Birth Injuries, Hospital Negligence, Medical Malpractice, Uncategorized

Negligent Nurse Who Lost License Still Working in Canada

by John McKiggan

In 2001 Spencer Sullivan had elective surgery for neck and back pain at the University of California San Francisco Medical Centre. The surgery went well and there were no complications.

Negligent Nursing Care

But while Sullivan was in the hospital recuperating his nurse, Rose McKenzie, gave him two different types of pain medication without checking with the doctors who were in charge of Sullivan’s care. McKenzie then failed to monitor Sullivan throughout the night.

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Posted in: Brain Injuries, Disclosure of Errors, Hospital Negligence, Nursing Errors, Uncategorized