Botched brain surgery? Rare but not impossible. But what are the chances of several botched brain surgery’s occurring at the same hospital, all in the very same year? Yes, it’s true. The Gorilla was kind of, well, perplexed, when he heard this story out of Providence, Rhode Island today. A hospital there is being fined for it’s third- that right folks- it’s third, instance of operating on the wrong side of a patient’s head.
The most recent case happened on Friday, when (according to the health department) the chief resident started brain surgery on the wrong side of an 82-year-old patient’s head. Luckily, the patient was okay, but in February, it had happened also. This time, according to a health department spokeswoman, a doctor performed neurosurgery on the wrong side of another patient’s head, but once again, that person was also okay. Well, three strikes certainly makes an out, and this time the person was not so lucky. Unbelievably, in August, a patient died a few weeks after yet a third doctor performed neurosurgery on, you guessed it, the wrong side of his head. Unfortunately, it took that third incident to get the state to order the hospital to take steps to ensure that this would never happen again.
Those measures will include an independent review of its neurosurgery practices and better verification from doctors of surgery plans. The Gorilla is simply amazed that they didn’t jump at the opportunity to do this after just ONE botched brain surgery. The hospital said it was re-evaluating its training and policies and made this statement: “We are committed to continuing to evaluate and implement changes to our policies to help ensure these human errors are caught before they reach the patient”. For now, the hospital must pay a $50,000 fine and was reprimanded by the state for its actions. The Gorilla cannot even imagine the future malpractice insurance rates for these irresponsible surgeons! For now, heed some good advice from the Gorilla; research your doctors and hospitals thoroughly before having any kind of surgery. Being educated about your physicians/hospital’s history can save your life! In the meantime, perhaps you should stay away from this particular hospital if you are currently in need of any neurosurgery! (Okay folks, lighten up, that was obviously a joke!)