Update: RI Hospital surgeon operates on wrong finger
11:25 AM Fri, Oct 23, 2009 | Permalink
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A surgeon at Rhode Island Hospital operated on the wrong finger during outpatient hand surgery on Thursday, a hospital statement acknowledged Friday morning. It was the fifth wrong-site surgery at Rhode Island Hospital, and the sixth in the state, since 2007. The patient was scheduled for surgery on two fingers. A joint on one finger underwent a procedure intended for another finger, hospital president Timothy J. Babineau said in a letter to employees. "The patient subsequently underwent surgery on the correct finger and joint, did well and was discharged home later that day," Babineau's letter said. "The surgeon discussed the error with the patient and, in keeping with our policy, the Department of Health was immediately notified." The hospital said it would not disclose further details about the surgery to protect the patient's confidentiality. State law requires hospitals to notify the Health Department of major incidents within 24 hours. Annemarie Beardsworth, Health Department spokeswoman, said that an investigator is at the hospital now. "Overall, we're frustrated and we're seriously concerned that this seems to be a continuing pattern at Rhode Island Hospital," Beardsworth said. The results of the Health Department investigation will not be available immediately. Babineau's statement said that the hospital is conducting "a thorough analysis" of what went wrong. "Thus far, we have identified an ambiguity in the time-out process for hand surgery when more than one procedure is being performed which may have contributed to the error," he wrote. A "time-out" is a pause before surgery when the operating room staff follows a set of procedures to verify they are performing the right surgery on the right part of the right patient. Shortcomings in this process have figured in other wrong-site surgery errors at the hospital. Babineau said the hospital has put "a tremendous amount of work" into error prevention after the string of embarrassing wrong-site surgeries. That included participating in a national pilot program to prevent surgical errors. Additionally, in June, the Hospital Association of Rhode Island announced that all hospitals and surgical centers had agreed to follow the same process to prevent surgical errors, making Rhode Island the first state in which a uniform protocol was voluntarily adopted by all surgical providers. "This error reminds us of the extraordinary complexity and difficulties in preventing medical errors -- particularly worng-site surgery," Babineau wrote to employees. (An earlier version of this report was published at 9:53 a.m.) 
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So what else is new??
Maybe a family member needs to go to RIH with the patient and guide the doctor. No Dr, its the right hand, the right hand. (Pointing) this one you fool.
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Why not train blind people, verbally prompted by the surgeon (the surgeon should have his hands tied behind his back and shackled to a post), to do the surgeries?
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HMMMMM....SOUNDS ALOT LIKE KENT HOSPITAL...GO IN FOR A HANG NAIL....LOSE A LIMB !!h74uzw
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How often does this happen at other hospitals? Is this normal? Not that it should be. Projo do a little research.
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What, again!!!!!
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I've had three surgeries at RI Hosspital. The protocal for making sure the surgery is being done on the correct area is more than efficient. I can't see how these mistakes are made. All of my surgeries were successful - especially back surgery performed by Dr. Frederick Harrington - thanks again.
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If you need surgery.....RUN AWAY FROM RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL!!!!!!!!
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What happened to marking the area to be operated on????
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Took my daughter to have a procedure on her finger at Kent ED - the doctor had to novacaine her finger - half way through he said, damn, I hate it when I do that - he had novacained the wrong finger....didn't note it, just continued with a new needle. She was in too much pain for us to complain at this point after waiting for so long...we ignored it - no harm, no foul - but what if it was worse than that??? Put the fear of God into me. I was watching him intently but couldn't see it because he was hovering over her finger....I felt like I really let her down.
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Around a week before the surgery why don't they mark the correct site with ink that will take a couple of weeks to wear off. When they mark the site have the patient (or guardian) sign a form agreeing with the inked location and also take a photo of the ink marking (so the patient can't change it). The marking should also have "L" or "R" to insure the photo is not printed or viewed backwards.
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How major were these 5 wrongful surgeries? 5 wrong in 2 years, how many right in 2 yeras? I understand, but doctors are human and do make mistakes. Fortunately, My 9 year old son recently had surgery on his right fifth(pinky) finger at RI Hasbro Hospital. He was clearly marked wih a marker "R"! It was a successful surgery performed by the wonderful Julia Katarincic. Thank You
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Its time to publish the name of the Doctor ! Is this the same Doctor or is this the same hospital making the same mistakes?
Massachusetts has ink that takes at least a week to get off after an operation! Its not the fault of the ink or the materials .Its the hospital !
They should take a criminal complaint against the manager of the hospital . That's why they get the big bucks !
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Extraordinary complexity and difficulties in preventing medical errors?
Just how complex is it to take a magic marker and mark the correct spot/area for surgery?
Do these people who are responsible for this type of mistake maintain employment afterwards?
Yet another 'noble profession' with no responsibility for results.
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Right, RIGHT, the OTHER right. So much for the safeguards put into place so things like that don't happen.
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I had a friend who is now a double amputee because his surgeon removed the wrong leg.
He was going to sue but his lawyer told him that he didn't have a leg to stand on.
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Here's a thought: Make the patients draw a "Cut Here" on the offending area. They seem to be the ones who know best, eh?
Cripes, this latest incident is a true black eye for RIH. Who is responsible for allowing this behavior to continue? And why do we never know the names of those involved?
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What can you expect? Any good surgeon is working in other states with better pay. Rhode Island gets the ones who can't get hired anywhere else.
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