Where are my tweezers?

[bakedjake]

[montereyherald.com...]

LOS ANGELES - Medical staff at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center failed to check whether they left instruments inside patients after hundreds of surgeries, according to the county health director.

A metal clamp was found last month inside a patient at the hospital for 10 days, revealing the widespread failure of hospital staff to count surgical tools after operations.

"They did another X-ray and another X-ray," Baber said. "It showed plain as day, they had one of the clamps just sitting there."

[iamlost]

the surgeon who first operated ..., performed another surgery to remove the clamp

Did the surgeon bill for the second op?
Who paid the OR staff for the second op?
How soon after did an attorney materialise?

The questions that linger to bug a person ...

[Macguru]

>>The questions that linger to bug a person ...

I am allowed a question that linger a bugged person?

Was the second operation worth a metal clamp?

[Hawkgirl]

At the half-dozen surgeries I sat in on as a student, I saw them counting and re-counting instruments and sponges so many times I thought the entire staff had a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Really interesting that folks would be so lax. I'd be royally pissed if someone left scissors in me.

[iamlost]

Obvious need for a digital camera tied to a computer program monitoring what goes in and what comes out.

Perhaps sending an electric shock to the surgeon on an odd count.

[mivox]

Was the second operation worth a metal clamp?

Sure, I'd ask to keep the clamp, and have it mounted on a trophy plaque along with a scanned copy of the settlement check from the hospital.

[Macguru]

>>I'd be royally pissed if someone left scissors in me.

Yeah, I can imagine the inconvenience for frequent air travellers.

[photon]

>>I'd be royally pissed if someone left scissors in me.

Yeah, I can imagine the inconvenience for frequent air travellers.

Not to mention that you'd never be able to run again.

If you listened to your mother, that is

[Leosghost]

This is my 4 th post in around ten minutes in Foo ..while I'm waiting for a reply elswhere ...

I have 2 friends ( unconnected ) who have to carry their past medical Xrays with them when they fly ( and most all of the time )...One has 800grammes and the other 2.1 kilos of surgical metal in their bodies distributed in skull plates etc etc ..due to motor cycle accidents ..

Not counting those others with prosthetic arms or legs ...
Please remember bikers and cyclists when you drive ...

[edited by: Macguru at 3:59 pm (utc) on Aug. 5, 2004]
[edit reason] Just defusing :) [/edit]

[DaveAtIFG]

I fixed CAT scanners for many years. I arrived at a hospital one day to perform routine maintenance before the tech had finished scanning his last patient, a chest study.

Me: "Whatcha looking for with this guy?"

Tech: "A surgical towel. The count was wrong after they moved him to post op."

[Quinn]

How many years ago was that Dave? [cnn.com]

[loanuniverse]

Not to mention that you'd never be able to run again.

LOL

[DaveAtIFG]

Quinn, 1980 in Phoenix so it wasn't poor Bonnie. The scan I mentioned DID reveal a towel. For some reason though, I never heard any more about it. ;) This sort of mistake is much more common than most of us realize. They very rarely make the news. I've heard RUMORS that a complimentary second surgery and a handsome settlement are normally provided.

It's no wonder hospital costs are so exorbitant! :)

[mivox]

...a complimentary second surgery and a handsome settlement are normally provided.

Hehe. Maybe I should go in for a surgical towel implant... ;)

[SEOMike]

complimentary second surgery

Hopefully performed by some other staff members who can count!