All acts of medical malpractice can be dangerous, resulting in severe injuries. While none of these actions should occur, some are considered more dangerous than others and are considered never events in the legal world.
These are those events that should never take place when there are proper safety measures in place. If the doctor follows the necessary protocols, these events should never occur and individuals would not face preventable injuries. Here are the different actions considered never events.
Current List of Never Events
This is the current list of never events broken down by category.
- Surgical errors: Which can include surgery performed on the wrong person or body part, incorrect surgical procedure, items left inside a patient, and failure to provide proper post-procedure care.
- Product and device defects: This can include injury or death caused by contaminated drugs, defective devices, and other problems associated with a device or product causing significant harm.
- Patient protection errors: This typically includes events involving discharge of patients and disappearance. For instance, if a young patient is discharged to the wrong person, this is a never event. Other problems can include patient death upon disappearance or due to suicide (or attempted suicide) while in the care facility.
- Environmental errors: This includes any disability or death caused by electric shock, wrong gas, burns, falls, or situations involving restraints.
- Criminal events: This can include abduction, procedures ordered by someone impersonating a medical professional, physical assault, and sexual assault occurring on the property as a result of negligent security.
At Parker Alexander, we know how serious it can be to suffer from any kind of medical negligence. Never events, though, commonly result in catastrophic injury or death and it is imperative for victims and the families of those deceased to understand their legal options.
Our Monroe medical malpractice attorneys are committed to helping you in your time of need. Trust that we’ll be by your side every step of the way to pursue the compensation and justice you need, focusing on the legal matters so you can worry about your own recovery.