California Hospital Mistakes Result in Fines for Nine Facilities

Nine California hospitals have been fined more than half a million dollars collectively for medical mistakes, including wrong site surgeries, leaving medical equipment in patients and medication errors, which are all preventable problems that most experts agree should never occur. 

The California Department of Public Health announced the California hospital fines on May 20, indicating that the facilities failed to comply with state licensing requirements in ways that had caused, or were likely to cause, death or serious injury to patients. The state of California has been surveying its hospitals for such medical mistakes since 2007.

Hospitals that received fines include Alameda County Medical Center, Hi-Desert Medical Center, Marin General Hospital, Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, Parkview Community Hospital, Pomerado Hospital, Rady Children’s Hospital, Scripps Green Hospital, and Tri-City Medical Center. Fines ranged from $50,000 for a first offense, to $75,000 for a second offense.

In total, the state assessed $550,000 in fines against California hospitals for a variety of offenses. Fines can range from $50,000 to $100,000.

Scripps Green was fined twice, once for $50,000 and once for $75,000. However, the state noted that the hospital, located in La Jolla in San Diego County, has actually been fined a total of four times. In one instance, a surgeon performing hip replacement surgery discovered one of the medical instruments had dried blood from a previous operation on it. In another, a doctor inserted the wrong end of a catheter into a patient’s spine, resulting in the tip breaking off inside the patient’s body.

In another instance cited by state officials, a nurse gave a newborn a dose of morphine intended for the baby’s mother at Mission Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo. The baby suffered respiratory problems, but recovered.

Parkview Community Hospital, in Riverside, was cited after a surgeon removed the wrong kidney from a Spanish-speaking patient. State investigators said that no interpreter was provided to the patient, making consent impossible for the surgery, which was supposed to be for the removal of his other kidney with tumors. The patient, Fracisco Torres, 72, has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor and the hospital.

Most of the citations were given for offenses that are deemed to be preventable by most medical experts. Medication errors can be prevented with electronic pharmaceutical records and with checklists for nurses. Medical instruments being left in the body, as was the case in one of the fines, can be prevented by performing a count on all medical devices during and near the end of surgery. Wrong site surgery errors can be prevented by the surgeon consulting with the patient and then putting his or her initials on the proper operative site with a permanent marking pen before the patient is moved to the location of the procedure. The surgeon can then look for his initials and operates through them. Proper record-keeping, pre-surgery checklists and surgical staff taking a “time-out” to discuss the procedure before cutting can also help eliminate wrong site surgery incidents.