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More often than not you come across a news article about a hospital whose surgeons completely messed up a surgery. Perhaps they operated on the wrong limb — or the wrong patient! — or left a surgical instrument inside the patient, or prescribed the wrong dosage of medicine. Each of these instances can result in serious injury or even death.
These mistakes should never happen, which is why the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services calls these “never events.”
What to do when a never event occurs to you or a loved one
The Leapfrog Group, an organization that collects data regarding never events, lists four suggestions as to what hospitals and other medical facilities can do if a never event occurs:
- Apologize to the patient
- Report the event
- Perform a root cause analysis
- Waive costs and fees related to the event
However, this only covers one side of the story. If you or a loved one has been a victim of a never event, it’s important to seek out a medical malpractice lawyer such as The Law Office of Gray & Associates, P.C. so you can be sure you are fully compensated for the injuries you’ve sustained as a result, or are compensated for the loss of life of a family member.
Our law office will sit down with you about the events that occurred and what the best plan of action is to take. Understand that most of the time the hospital will reach a settlement agreement and we will make sure you are appropriately compensated. In the United State there are 28 different instances of never events and our medical malpractice law firm is familiar with all of them and can help you through the legal process.
Why are never events still an issue?
The Leapfrog Group set standard policies for never events, yet according to recent data, each state’s adoption and implementation of these policies varies. Unfortunately there is no effective way to control how each hospital is reporting and dealing with these never events, which means there could be more instances than initially reported.
States whose hospitals meet Leapfrog Group’s expectations for dealing with never events include Maine, Massachusetts and Washington. A handful of other states are just at the cusp of meeting expectations, but unfortunately a large percentage of states displays an underwhelming track record of reporting never event cases.
Although Massachusetts meets criteria for reporting and dealing with these tragic events, that doesn’t mean medical malpractice doesn’t occur. If you’ve been seriously injured due to someone else’s negligence, contact us for personal injury legal help today.
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