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Showing posts with label Surgical instrument. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Surgical instrument. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

New Concerns on Robotic Surgeries

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from well.blogs.nytimes.com


A technologist with the da Vinci surgical system, which hasĀ  been criticized in a series of reports.
A technologist with the da Vinci surgical system, which has been criticized in a series of reports.

Mike Spencer/Wilmington Star-News, via Associated PressA technologist with the da Vinci surgical system, which has  been criticized in a series of reports.

In early March 2009, Erin Izumi, a woman in her 30s from Tacoma, Wash., underwent robotically assisted surgery to treat endometriosis.
The operation at St. Joseph Medical Center dragged on for nearly 11 hours.
Ten days later, Ms. Izumi was rushed to an emergency room, where doctors discovered that her colon and rectum had been torn during the operation. She was hospitalized for five weeks, undergoing a series of procedures to repair the damage, including a temporary colostomy, according to her attorney Chris Otorowski.

But even though medical device manufacturers and hospitals are required to report every device-related death and serious injury to a database maintained by the Food and Drug Administration within 30 days of learning about an incident, no report about the case was made in 2009. Hospital officials declined to comment, and a spokeswoman for the manufacturer said it became aware of the incident only when Ms. Izumi filed a lawsuit. It disputed the claim and settled the case in May 2012.

That was not the only lapse in reporting problems with robotic surgical equipment, a new study has found.

The equipment, called the da Vinci system, is made by Intuitive Surgical Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. It has been on the...
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Friday, May 27, 2011

Top 10 Surgery Center Violations


A recent report reveals that 1 out of 2 surgical centers have serious health safety violations. Workmens comp insurance carriers, as well as others, rely heavily upon these centers for surgery since they are less costly to operate than hospitals.

The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, (NJDHQI) reviewed state violations in a program funded by a Federal grant. NJDHQI published a report noting that more than 25% of the surgery centers were cited for "Immediate Jeopardy," which is a violation defined as noncompliance with established rules that has caused, or is likely to cause, serious injury, impairment or death to a patient.

The top violations were:
  • Staff members walked through the sterile operating room in street clothes
  • The surgery center did not have mandated emergency equipment and medicines on site
  • The surgery centers had no system to track controlled and regulated medications on site
  • Physicians and staff did not have current licenses and credentials
  • The patient beds and floors were not sanitized correctly
  • Surgical instruments were not cleaned or sanitized correctly
  • The staff filled out patient charts in advance for convenience
  • Single use items were used more then once on a patient
  • The facility did not maintain an ongoing infection control program
  • The surgery center failed to obtain consent from patients prior to permitting physician residents in an educational program participate in their surgeries.

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.