Posted on 11/15/2006 3:15:55 PM PST by FLOutdoorsman
Doctors and medical specialists are miracle workers, right? And when we go to hospital, we'll leave healthier than when we arrived, right? Well, not always, unfortunately, as accidents can happen and modern medicine isn't immune to Murphy's Law. So, what are the most terrifyingly medical blunders that could happen to you?
1. Waking During Surgery Waking during surgery is rare, but "rare", according to The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), means 1 to 2 people out of every 1000 patients. All up, you're much more likely to be sliced open without being able to move or communicate than you are to win the lottery.
There are machines available that measure brain-wave activity and self-awareness in patients, but the ASA recently passed a recommendation that there was "insufficient evidence to justify a requirement that these devices be used."
2. Objects Left In The Body After Surgery This phenomenon is pure gold for the tabloid press, and it seems there's no end to the number of patients reporting how surgeons left scissors, gauze, and other bits and pieces inside their bodies. As it turns out, leaving medical apparatus inside the body cavity is one of the most common blunders that can happen to a patient. So, always have a good prod of your body post-surgery, or if you're really worried, go and get an X-ray.
3. Wrong Site Surgery The problem of surgeons operating on the wrong body location, amputating healthy limbs, or operating on the wrong body altogether, is apparently "getting worse," according to Denis O'Leary, head of the non-profit Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. Frighteningly, hospitals are not obliged to reveal such statistics to the public. What we hear about is "just the tip of the iceberg," according to O'Leary, who adds that; "some hospitals are reporting everything, and some hospitals don't report anything at all."
4. Dirty Doctors According to medical journalist W. Gifford-Jones; "In 1846 when the first obstetrical hospital was opened in Vienna, one in eight pregnant women died from puerperal fever. Professor Ignacz Semmelweiss dramatically ended these deaths by demanding that doctors wash their hands after doing an autopsy and before delivering a baby."
Yes, Semmelweiss was certainly on to something there, but Gifford-Jones says that doctors are still somewhat recalcitrant when it comes to hand washing. "Doctors, even infectious disease specialists, often fail to wash their hands, spreading germs from one patient to another," explains Gifford-Jones.
Gifford-Jones offers a number of suggestions to make your hospital stay infection-free. These include: telling your doctor to wash his hands (good luck with that one); have urinary catheters removed as soon as possible after surgery (not a tip you'd forget easily); don't smoke prior to an operation, as it can promote lung infections; and let staff know if you're writhing in insufferable pain. Better still, stay out of hospital.
5. Prescription Medicine Is medicine becoming too complicated for the average patient? Or doctor for that matter, as it seems that the practice of prescribing incorrect medications with similar sounding or looking names is on the rise, with dire and sometimes fatal results. One case involved a patient who was prescribed sixty-times the recommended dose of Librium instead of Lithium to treat his depression. Needless to say, the man died as a result. Perhaps of greater concern was the hospital's attempt to shirk responsibility by declaring that the patient had died of pneumonia.
6. Doctors Of Death Hell bent on causing mayhem and destruction, doctors of death like Nazi medico Joseph Mengele use their position of authority to violate their professional oath of preserving life. One recent case involved disgraced doctor Jayant Patel, who, after losing his license in the United States, was able to enter Australia where he quickly set up a practice. Patel treated over 1000 patients in Australia, with 80 of them dying due to his incompetence. A commission into the sorry saga recommended that he be charged with murder.
7. Buried Alive Being buried alive is one of the most terrifying of all fears. The scenario of waking up inside a coffin six-feet-under has been used in films such as The Vanishing, Kill Bill and, of course, Buried Alive, but just how likely is it?
During the 17th century, plague victims often collapsed seemingly dead and historical records indicate that there were 219 close calls and 149 actual cases of people being buried alive. But hey, that was the 17th century; it couldn't possibly happen today, could it?
In 1993, news agencies reported the ordeal of a man pronounced dead at the scene of a traffic accident in Johannesburg, South Africa, who spent two days sealed in a metal box in the bowels of the local mortuary before eventually being rescued.
8. Private Contractors Accountants have been sent in to "improve" health services around the world, but unfortunately, things aren't going to plan. The biggest ever citizen versus government payout was due to a private contractor managing a birth at a Jacksonville navy hospital in 2003. Over 60 million dollars was awarded to the parents of a boy who suffered severe brain damage due to a private medical contractor's negligence. Do we really want our health services sold to the lowest bidder?
9. Drug Trials Clinical trials are a necessary aspect of modern medicine, and we owe the people who take part in them a great deal. But they're not called trials for nothing, and things do go wrong.
One shocking, recent case of medical bungling involved six healthy men who took part in a clinical drugs trial at Northwick Park Hospital in London. The trial involved an anti-inflammatory drug, which soon after being administered, caused the men to fall critically ill, with two of the men swelling up, and looking like the "Elephant Man." Health officials said that it was "an unfortunate and extremely rare event."
10. Cosmetic Cock-Ups Cosmetic surgery has become commonplace, but few people are aware of the very real dangers involved. Lifestyle programs promote cosmetic procedures like breast augmentations and nose jobs as quick and painless lunchtime affairs. But there are a great many people who have been disfigured due to poorly performed procedures.
Last year it was found that dozens of doctors had been using an unapproved form of botulism toxin to smooth out their patient's wrinkles, instead of the more expensive Botox. Investigators said that the substitute that was pumped into cheeks and brows across the nation could be as deadly as cyanide.
OK so I guessed right.
My point is that as bad as your experience was, there is a real chance that something even worse could happen now which is being awake, feeling everything, but not being able to move so much as an eyelid.
Despite the obvious fear mongering in this article, the "awakening during surgery" is astoundingly common (the article says 1 to 2 per 1000 which I think is about right) and to some degree preventable if certain monitoring equipment is purchased and used.
And I think this is a legitimate concern.
BTW to have something like that happen is bad enough. To be mocked about it afterwards - that truly sucks.
When people do have this type of thing happen to them there are often severe psychological sequelae - it definitely has been known to do a number on folks' heads. To make light of it or exploit it - seems just wrong to me.
My brother-in-law, the doctor, told me of cases where curare was administered before the primary anesthetic. The only reason they knew this was because the patient went into cardiac arrest when the surgeon started cutting.
When they do extractions of wisdom teeth, it is usually done under "conscious sedation" and not general anesthesia. With conscious sedation, they usually give you an IV of valium, demerol, and phenobarbital + the local anesthetic to numb the area. With this type of anesthesia, the patient is often able to answer simple questions, but will usually have no memory of it afterward. Hardly anything to sue over.
"They left out being anally probed by space aliens. Other than that seems like a fairly complete list :)"
I always wondered what that stinging sensation was when I was around cows.
"In 1958, at the age of 7, I woke up on the operating table in the middle of my tonsilectomy.
I still remember it quite well after nearly 50 years."
Remember the smell of the ether? To this day, when I get a whiff of anything that smells like that I gag.
Same thing happen to me in 1968 when I was 7 during my tonsellectomy.
I did not feel pain or move, but I could see a limited field of vision and I could hear their conversation. They didn't believe me.
This sounds silly, but really, DO IT: Before going under the knife for anything, take a Sharpie and mark on (or near if you can't mark on) the correct body part with an arrow and label saying "here." Make the other one with a big "X" with a label saying "NOT THIS ONE." Try to avoid the area where the actual incisions will be made. Like I said, it sounds silly, and the staff might raz you for it, but feeling silly and getting razzed are FAR better than waking up with the wrong arm/leg/eye/kidney/etc. operated upon or gone!
I remember being carried into the surgical suite. One nurse on each limb. They told me if I move they will tie me into a pretzel. Dr. Blums office in Brooklyn. 40 years later I still remember the operating suite in that little house.
I remember them dropping me in a bed afterwards where I proceeded to throw up for the next half hour, along with five other kids.
The only thing that was positive was the ice cream and the pictures my classmates sent to me as I recuperated.
"Make the other one" = "Mark the other one" PIMF
True but that could also come from leaning up against an electric fence. Either way, stay safe out there!
When I had my hip replacement a few years ago, they gave me a marker and had me put an X on the one to be replaced.
I manage a medical mal-practice account for 500 doctors. I could tell you stories !!!
Many of the claims, though, are normal surgical risks and the physicians did NOTHING wrong. They get sued anyway.
It's really sad.
maybe you were only dreaming you were awake
yep - I had novacaine, pentathol and gas and was still conscious and talking (or trying to) throughout....I had impacted wisdom teeth and the moment he pulled it - my headache went away....
Ive never had another surgery since - except a colonoscopy - and I was awake for that too
They did that with my mother when she had eye surgery. Wrote YES above one eye and NO above the other.
I recommend that anyone about to undergo surgery have a family member with them to make sure that things are done right.
I also think family members going in the room with you is a good idea. Even an arrogant doctor is gonna watch his step if he knows someone who cares is watching.
I am an operating room nurse myself. We do not like the use of the letter "X" under any circumstance. It can be confusing because it is ambiguous. Does it indicate "not this side" or does it indicate "X marks the spot?" Not everyone will mark "NOT THIS ONE" or it will be illegible.
It would be preferable to mark "YES" on the correct side and "NO" on the incorrect side.
I have seen all kinds of markings done by the patients, including check marks, X's, O's, equal signs with a slash through it, and various scribbles.
Also, if one marks himself prior to his surgery, he needs to tell the OR staff that he has done so and what that mark indicates. Imagine having confirmed the surgical site with the patient and then after he is asleep finding a big "X" or whatever on the surgical site and not knowing the patient's intention. I have seen patients awakened and their surgery postponed because of the doubt these markings have made.
Probably the best method that I seen is that in the pre-op area the patient or a family member confirms the side with either the surgeon or the OR nurse and the side is initialled by the surgeon/OR nurse and the patient/family member. This way there is an operating room staff witness and we understand what the markings indicate.
Like I said, it sounds silly, and the staff might raz you for it
Any patient who is razzed or otherwise demeaned by the staff over marking the surgical site, should ask to speak with the supervisor and report this person(s). Wrong side surgery is no joke. The vast majority of us take it extremely seriously.
LOL! I never knew the doc had such a foul mouth and such brute force technique until that happened. Your muscles are frozen, but you're wide awake listening to one doc swearing his head off, as he yanks on yer delicates and the other one's are telling him to calm down. LOL!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.