2011's TOP TEN HEALTH TECHNOLOGY HAZARDS
For the last four years, the non-for-profit ECRI Institute, an independent organization that researches the various ways hospitals and health care providers can improve patient care, has compiled a list of the top ten health technology hazards. ECRI Institute creates the list based on "the prevalence and severity of incidents reported to ECRI Institute by healthcare facilities nationwide; information found in the Institute’s medical device problem reporting databases; and the judgment, analysis, and expertise of the organization’s multidisciplinary staff." Sadly, many of these are instances where a patient goes into a hospital for treatment or a routine procedure, and then suffers a disabling or disfiguring injury.
The top ten health technology hazards for 2011 include:
1. Radiation overdose and other dose errors during radiation therapy. Overdoses of radiation therapy or other medication, for that matter, can cause serious and devastating health repercussions, even death.
2. Alarm hazards. Staff often turn down alarms or ignore them due to the many, constant and varied amounts of alarms that sound off in a hospital every second of the day.
3. Cross-contamination from flexible endoscopes.
4. The high radiation dose of CT scans. According to the Wall Street Journal Health Blog, many have become concerned with the increased risk of cancer from CT-related radiation.
5. Data loss, system incompatibilities, and other health IT complications.
6. Luer misconnections of tubes, needles and catheters allowing gases or liquids to be introduced into the wrong lines or via unintended routes.
7. Oversedation during use of patient-controlled painkillers pumps.
8. Needle sticks and other sharps injuries, putting patients at risk for infections.
9. Surgical fires.
10. Defibrillator equipment failures in emergency resuscitation attempts.
As Chicago medical malpractice lawyers, the attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll have experience dealing with cases involving medical errors made by doctors and hospital staff. Contact us today to speak to one of our knowledgeable attorneys.
