7 California Hospitals Fined For Preventable Medical Errors, Including Birth Injuries
The California Department of Public Health has recently announced that it will be fining 7 California hospital for medical errors that placed its patients in “immediate jeopardy.” “Immediate jeopardy” includes the worst situations of preventable medical errors—those that caused or could cause serious injury or death to the patient. According to Health Leaders Media, since the law requiring the reporting of hospital penalties became effective in 2007, the Dept. of Public Health has assessed more than 264 penalties for “immediate jeopardy.”
Preventable medical errors kill and seriously injure hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. In fact, medical errors in hospitals kill more Americans every year than AIDS, breast cancer and auto accidents combined.
If you believe that you or a loved one has been injured by a preventable medical error, its important to consult with an experienced California birth injury attorney right away.
According to the article, the recent examples of serious preventable errors include:
• Leaving sponges inside a patient
• Failing to intubate a patient where the doctor just “zoned out”
• Medication errors
• Wrong site operations.
Unfortunately, the incidences of medical errors, including birth injuries and birth trauma remains high.


