Sep 24, 2009 6:05 pm US/Pacific
State Cracks Down On Medical Mistakes
Measures Come Following Our Exclusive Investigation
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
It comes after we exposed the dirty secrets of hospitals. Now the state has issued the maximum fines against some area hospitals.
"That's where they went in and removed the sponges," Ed Ornelas said while pointing to his abdomen.
Ornelas still wipes away tears when he remembers the words of his doctor after an emergency appendectomy.
"There's a foreign object in you and we think it might be a sponge," Ornelas recalled.
Last November we uncovered the dirty secrets of area hospitals -- hundreds of medical mistakes. Now the state is moving in.
The Department of Public Health has issued the largest fines allowed against seven local hospitals for making serious errors.
At USC University Hospital a patient's leg was mistakenly amputated. The woman thought she was diagnosed with cancer and agreed to the procedure. But the hospital was fined $25,000 because it mixed up the test results with another patient, who did have cancer. It's the hospital's first administrative penalty.
At County USC Medical Center a patient complained of abdominal pain after an operation. Turns out a foreign body -- most likely a sponge -- was left behind. The patient had to undergo a second operation.
County USC was also fined $25,000 for the mistake. It was the third time the hospital was cited by the state.
At Loma Linda Medical Center, the same penalty for the same thing -- a sponge left during a liver transplant. It was their second penalty.
Also cited was Coast Plaza Doctors Hospital for a surgical item left behind. They received the maximum fine. It was their first penalty.
St. John's Medical Center in Santa Monica failed to follow surgical procedures and was fined $25,000. It was also their first penalty.
Kindred Hospital in Ontario also received the maximum penalty for failure to monitor a patient's need. It was the first time they were cited.
"I just couldn't understand how a doctor, a professional, could do something like that," Ornelas said.
In Ornelas's case, South Coast Medical Center in Laguna Beach was also fined $25,000 after we exposed the mistake.
Department of Public Health Reports:
County USC Medical Center
Loma Linda Medical Center
Coast Plaza Doctors Hospital Norwalk
Saint John's Hospital Santa Monica
USC University Hospital
Kindred Hospital Ontario
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