An organization known as the National Quality Forum lists things that should never happen as part of a surgical procedure, or otherwise in the provision of medical care.
- Unintended retention of a foreign body in a patient after surgery or other procedure
- Patient death or serious disability associated with patient elopement (disappearance)
- Patient death or serious disability 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 disability associated with a hemolytic reaction due to the administration of incompatible blood or blood products
- Patient death or serious disability associated with a fall while being cared for in a healthcare facility
- Surgery performed on the wrong body part
- Surgery performed on the wrong patient
- Wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient
- Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics provided by the healthcare facility
- Patient death or serious disability associated with intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a healthcare facility
- Infant discharged to the wrong person
- Patient suicide, or attempted suicide resulting in serious disability, while being cared for in a healthcare facility
- Maternal death or serious disability associated with labor or delivery in a low-risk pregnancy while being cared for in a health care facility
- Patient death or serious disability associated with hypoglycemia, the onset of which occurs while the patient is being cared for in a healthcare facility
- Death or serious disability (kernicterus) associated with failure to identify and treat hyperbilirubinemia in neonates
- Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers acquired after admission to a healthcare facility
- Patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy
- Any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other gas to be delivered to a patient contains the wrong gas or is contaminated by toxic substances
- Patient death or serious disability associated with a burn incurred from any source while being cared for in a healthcare facility
- Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of restraints or bedrails while being cared for in a healthcare facility
- Any instance of care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other licensed healthcare provider
- Sexual assault on a patient within or on the grounds of the healthcare facility
- Death or significant injury of a patient or staff member resulting from a physical assault (i.e., battery) that occurs within or on the grounds of the healthcare facility
If any of these events have happened to you or a loved one, please seek legal assistance. Call our office today and speak with one of our attorneys for medical errors that should never happen in Indiana.