In yet another reminder that compliance with perioperative protocols should always be followed, refreshed and reexamined, a patient has been devastated, and numerous providers and facilities have been sued.
According to a report from WCHS-TV, a lawsuit filed in Washington County, Ohio, alleges that a patient had her wrong leg amputated. The lawsuit, the TV station reports, “names Selby General Hospital, Marietta Memorial Hospital, Marietta Area Health Care, Inc., Marietta Health Care Physicians, Inc. and First Settlement Orthopedics, Inc., as well as a team of doctors and physicians.” The patient is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as other relief available under Ohio law, according to her law firm.
The patient allegedly presented for surgery to have her lower right leg amputated, but had her lower left leg amputated instead, according to the lawsuit, which according to WCHS claims “the surgical team had multiple chances to notice the error when preparing and draping the wrong leg and placing a pneumatic tourniquet on the wrong thigh.” The patient is now a double amputee after later having the correct leg amputated.
In a press release, the patient’s law firm stated that “standard operative procedures require the surgical team to conduct surgical time-outs to verify the patient, procedure and correct operative site before proceeding with surgery. Though the medical records say that two time-outs did occur, the surgical team still amputated the wrong leg.”
Read more in WHCS’ full report.
