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When it comes to medical malpractice, some actions are considered worse than others. Then you have situations which have been grouped together and called “never events.” These are situations that should never happen under any circumstances.
These never events are categorized into seven different groups, including surgical events, product events, patient protection events, care management events, environmental events, radiological events, and criminal events. Some of these are more likely than others, but here’s how they are broken down:
- Surgical events: These include actions such as performing surgery on the wrong body part or the wrong patient, the wrong procedure being performed, leaving a foreign object in the body, or death resulting immediately following the procedure.
- Product events: These include death or serious injury caused by the use of contaminated or unsafe drugs or devices, incorrect use or function of a device, or because of a death or serious injury involving intravascular air embolism.
- Patient protection events: These include actions such as releasing a patient unable to make their own decisions to an unauthorized individual, death or injury associated with disappearance, or patient suicide.
- Care management events: These include death associated with medication problems, contaminated or improperly administered blood products, maternal death in a low-risk pregnancy, neonatal death or injury after a low-risk pregnancy, patient injury or death caused by a fall, and more.
- Environmental events: These include those involving problems with the patient environment resulting in electrocution, oxygen deprivation, exposure to gas, burns, or restraints.
- Radiological events: These events may include situations in which metal objects are introduced into areas where they should not be—such as an MRI—and it results in serious injury or death.
- Criminal events: These are actions in which someone impersonates a healthcare professional, kidnaps a patient, there is an instance of sexual abuse or assault, or when injuries or deaths occur as a result of assault.
At James Wood Law, we have a strong understanding of never events, what they mean for patients, and how legal action may be taken. Our Albuquerque medical malpractice attorneys are here to break down the rights of those harmed as a result of negligent medical professionals.
Call our firm today at (505) 906-6774 and discover your potential rights.