A recent study by Johns Hopkins University, and reported by the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Fox News and others, found that certain medical errors, known as “never events” are still occurring over 4,000 times per year. “Never events” are the types of mistakes that should never happen, not even once per year, such as leaving a piece of surgical equipment behind in the patient’s body or operating on the wrong part of the body. The story is at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Apparently, “never events” have continued to occur despite new technology and updated protocols aimed at preventing these types of mistakes.