Patient safety violations are rampant in California hospitals
Patient safety violations are rampant in California hospitals
California hospitals are facing unprecedented scrutiny as twelve facilities across the state have been slapped with penalties and fines. The penalties are in response to hospitals' inability or refusal to meet basic safety standards. Many facilities were caught participating in practices likely to cause serious injury or death to patients. Infractions involved botched surgeries, inadequate health precautions and negligent acts reasonably calculated to result in an unbelievable risk of vulnerability for patients entrusting these medical facilities with their care.
Anaheim Regional Medical Center was fined $50,000 for performing kidney surgery upon the wrong kidney after patient paperwork was errantly transcribed. Contra Costa Regional Medical Center was also issued a $50,000 fine after mixing doses of medication resulting in one patient enduring life-threatening seizures and cardiac arrest. The patent was then forced to remain hospitalized much longer than anticipated. He was given Fentanyl and Bupivicaine intravenously instead of the prescribed dose of Pilocin.
If those incidents are not alarming enough, the California Department of Health also fined Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz for various policy violations- policies set in place to protect patients from the various types of injuries described above. One patient undergoing treatment for respiratory disease died while waiting for hospital staff to monitor his care. Kaiser Foundation Hospital in San Francisco was also fined for failing to follow protocol in counting medical instruments after a surgical procedure. It was not until later that staff uncovered a fetal scalp electrode remaining in the patient's body. A second surgery was scheduled to remove the equipment. At another facility, a surgical sponge was left lodged in a patient's eye requiring a second surgery to restore eye function.
Another common reason for fines involved the inadequacy of facility safety precautions. In its third penalty, Pomerado Hospital in Poway was ordered to pay $75,000 for failing to adequately protect a patient admitted with symptoms of confusion and agitation. The hospital's lack of care in monitoring the charge resulted in his death as he repeatedly fell trying to get out of bed causing massive skull fractures.
Lastly, incorrect administration of medicine has been blamed in multiple patient injuries and deaths across California hospitals. In one circumstance, a doctor provided the nursing staff with notice of a change in medication for a patient but failed to change the dosage amount to one more appropriate for the new medication. The patient was administered four times the amount he should have received and suffered severe complications in the process. In San Diego, one facility was fined after a nurse attempted to use an infusion pump despite having no experience or training. The repeated attempts at using the pump resulted in injuries to the patient, leading to his eventual death.
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