Surgical Errors and “Never Events” in Washington Hospitals

Going through surgery means putting an enormous amount of trust in the surgical team. You have to trust the surgeon to perform the correct procedure, the anesthesiologist to monitor your vitals throughout the procedure, and the entire team to react quickly if there’s an emergency. Because surgery is inherently risky without additional errors entering the equation, hospitals have systems in place to prevent avoidable mistakes. Some mistakes are so serious and preventable that they are called never events. When a never event occurs, it may be a sign that someone on the surgical team (or the facility itself) was negligent.

If you believe you’ve been a victim of medical malpractice, it’s important to talk to a medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible. Call Smith McBroom Injury and Accident Lawyers to schedule a consultation with our team now.

What are “never events”?

“Never event” is a patient safety term that describes medical errors considered so preventable and serious that they should never occur. They aren’t ordinary complications or unavoidable risks that happen even when practitioners are careful. They are mistakes that hint at a serious breakdown in basic safety practices.

Common surgical never events include operating on the wrong body part, operating on the wrong side of the body, doing the wrong procedure, operating on the wrong patient, and leaving a surgical object in the patient after surgery.

These errors are often the result of communication failures, incomplete pre- or post-surgical checklists, staffing problems, rushed procedures, or failure to follow surgical timeout rules. Prior to surgery, the surgical team must verify the patient’s identity, procedure, consent, surgical site, and other important information. After surgery, the team should verify that all objects are accounted for and that every task has been safely completed. Skipping these steps, either due to time or overconfidence, can lead to devastating outcomes.

What makes never events different from ordinary bad outcomes

Poor outcomes are sometimes inevitable in surgery. Even when a team does everything properly, a patient may suffer complications, get an infection, or pass away. Never events are different because they reflect preventable process failures. A known complication could require in-depth investigation before your medical malpractice attorney knows if someone made a serious error; a never event strongly hints that someone made a preventable mistake.

How never events can support a Washington malpractice claim

While never events are a red flag that someone (or multiple people) failed to follow necessary safety procedures, you do still need proof that there was a breach in the standard of care. For example, if a surgeon performed surgery on the wrong part of your body, that may serve as evidence that the team did not verify the patient, procedure, and surgical site before proceeding. A retained sponge in a body cavity may be evidence that the team failed to follow the facility’s established counting protocols before closing the surgical site.

Does a never event always prove negligence?

A never event can be strong evidence in a Washington medical malpractice case, but it does not automatically prove negligence. For example, the defense may dispute whether the alleged event even happened, whether your subsequent injuries were caused by the error, whether you suffered compensable harm, or which party is liable. When there are multiple potentially liable parties involved, such as medical care providers and hospitals, arguments over liability are common.

Even if you can prove that the error in question occurred, your medical malpractice attorney must still be able to demonstrate that it caused your injuries. We’ll use the example of a retained sponge again. If a surgical team leaves a sponge inside you and you suffer an unrelated injury, that may be enough to support an inference of a breach in the standard of care but not enough to prove harm; you need medical evidence showing that the sponge proximately caused the complications you suffered. This can be an issue in cases where patients have serious underlying medical conditions, as the defendant may claim that their injuries are a result of those conditions and not the error.

The role of expert testimony

Expert testimony can play a pivotal role in medical malpractice cases, even when an error seems obvious to a layperson. Medical experts are often called in to explain the standard of care, hospital safety procedures, how the error may have caused an injury, and the patient’s future medical needs. Washington does not require an affidavit of merit as some states do, so the strength of your case is generally developed through investigation, medical record review, and litigation preparation.

Your attorney may bring in a variety of medical expert witnesses, depending on what occurred. A surgical expert may explain what the surgeon should have done in the situation you faced, and a nursing expert could comment on surgical counts, patient monitoring, and post-surgical documentation. Your attorney may ask a hospital safety expert to provide insight on how safety systems prevent serious never events.

Reporting requirements and patient safety standards

Serious surgical errors may involve individual negligence and institutional failures. While an individual surgeon may be responsible for the mistake they made, a hospital may be responsible for understaffing and overbooking to the point that care teams are running on an impossible schedule or failing to respond to known safety problems.

Because issues can extend to both individuals and institutions, Washington requires certain healthcare facilities to report serious adverse events to the Department of Health. These include medical errors that facilities could and should have avoided. A patient complaint can help encourage internal review or corrective action, but it’s a separate process from filing a civil lawsuit. You may go both routes to protect future patients while also fighting for the compensation you deserve.

Injured in surgery? Call our medical malpractice lawyers now

Our team at Smith McBroom Injury and Accident Lawyers has helped many injured, traumatized patients navigate the legal system after being let down by a trusted care provider. Let’s talk about your options and next steps now. Contact us online or call us today.