Never Events
Missouri Attorney Assisting Patients Suffering Events That Should Never Happen
Errors occur in medicine. Yet many of these errors could be prevented. In fact, the National Quality Forum has found that certain errors should always be preventable. These errors are called "Never Events." Such events simply should not happen - never, not to anyone.
"Never Events" take a significant human and financial toll. Each year in the United States, more than two million healthcare-acquired conditions are responsible for 90,000 deaths and $5.7 billion in added healthcare costs. Costs associated with other medical harm - including healthcare expenses, lost work productivity, lost income, and disability - have been estimated as high as $29 billion per year. These statistics illustrate an urgent need to seek to improve patient safety. The following healthcare incidents are just some of the healthcare events that should NEVER happen:
- Surgery or other invasive procedure performed on the wrong patient or site;
- Unintended retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery or other invasive procedure;
- Patient death or serious injury associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics provided by the healthcare setting;
- Patient death or serious injury associated with patient elopement (disappearance);
- Patient death or serious injury associated with a medication error (e.g., errors involving the wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong patient, wrong time, wrong rate, wrong preparation, or wrong route of administration);
- Patient death or serious injury associated with unsafe administration of blood products;
- Patient death or serious injury associated with a fall while being cared for in a healthcare setting;
- Any Stage 3, Stage 4, and unstageable pressure ulcers acquired after admission/presentation to a healthcare setting;
- Artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm or wrong egg;
- Patient death or serious injury resulting from the irretrievable loss of an irreplaceable biological specimen;
- Patient death or serious injury resulting from failure to follow up or communicate laboratory, pathology, or radiology test results;
- Patient or staff death or serious injury associated with a burn incurred from any source in the course of a patient care process in a healthcare setting.
Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have enacted reporting systems to help healthcare providers identify and learn from serious reportable events. Some states take "Never Events" seriously by having an open dialogue of how medical errors can be preventable. Unfortunately, Missouri does not require healthcare providers to self-report "Never Events." There is no open dialogue in our state. In fact, in 2011, the Missouri Board of Healing Arts reported only 10 total healthcare providers who were disciplined by the Board for careless and negligent care.
The only effective police of bad healthcare are those patients willing to advocate for themselves and others. If you or a loved one has been a victim of negligent medical care or a "Never Event," please contact us by telephone or email. We have experienced attorneys and nurses who can listen to your story and evaluate whether you have a potential medical malpractice claim.
We have been policing bad healthcare in the State of Missouri since 1984. We have assisted patients in getting their lives back by going to court and seeking damages for medical bills, wage loss, future needs, and pain and suffering. At Hall, Ansley, Rodgers & Sweeney, we have seen several Missourians suffer from "Never Events," and while we can never fully restore what was lost, our verdicts and settlements demonstrate our firm's past success in getting the justice patients deserve. Call or email our office today.
