Every year thousands of surgical errors happen. Surgical errors are several from bad outcomes, which are the known risks of encountering a surgical procedure. The document you sign before surgery named a “consent” form, is where the doctor lists these known jeopardies.
The consent you give, however, must be “informed;” that is, the doctor is required to explain the expected or unexpected risks of the surgery so that you are aware of the risk. Surgical errors, on other cards, are not a risk to which you can possibly consent—no one in their right mind ever consents or agrees to doctor error.
They are events outside the inherent risks of surgery and are preventable. Some surgical errors are so preventable that doctors term them as “never events;” that is, they should never happen. Examples of surgical never events include operating room fires, leaving surgical tools inside the patient or operating on the wrong part or organ of the body.
Infographic Source: CIRIGNANI HELLER HARMAN
