[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/blog\/wrong-body-part-operations-significant-problem\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/blog\/wrong-body-part-operations-significant-problem\/","headline":"Wrong Body Part Operations a Significant Problem","name":"Wrong Body Part Operations a Significant Problem","description":"Occasionally you\u2019ll hear a story in the news about a person who went in for surgery and the doctor operated on the wrong body part.\u00a0It is almost hard to believe that these situations actually occur. These stories are rarely picked up by mainstream news sources. For every one we see, there are many we don\u2019t. Every week in...","datePublished":"2012-10-26","dateModified":"2026-05-07","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/blog\/author\/kelley-johnson\/#Person","name":"Kelley Johnson","url":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/blog\/author\/kelley-johnson\/","identifier":35,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/62ea8bbf737d997a737de0b59d28a202a2f010bc1081f2ca6f356f6d9949be07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/62ea8bbf737d997a737de0b59d28a202a2f010bc1081f2ca6f356f6d9949be07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Law Office of Kelley J. Johnson","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Medmalpractice-Logo-1.svg","url":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Medmalpractice-Logo-1.svg","width":0,"height":0}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Kelley-J-Johnson.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Kelley-J-Johnson.jpg","width":238,"height":270},"url":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/blog\/wrong-body-part-operations-significant-problem\/","about":["Medical Malpractice Law","Personal Injury Law","The Law Office of Kelley J. Johnson News"],"wordCount":532,"articleBody":"Occasionally you\u2019ll hear a story in the news about a person who went in for surgery and the doctor operated on the wrong body part.\u00a0It is almost hard to believe that these situations actually occur. These stories are rarely picked up by mainstream news sources. For every one we see, there are many we don\u2019t.Every week in the United States, 40 wrong-site surgeries occur.Forty\u2014every week is what some statistics show. So, if these surgeries are so common, what\u2019s being done to prevent them and is there anything you can do as a patient to protect yourself?In 2004, mandatory rules were set to prevent these wrong surgeries. These rules came from the Joint Commission in Chicago and were a \u201cuniversal protocol\u201d to lessen the number of wrong-site operations. They included, among other things, preoperative verification of details, marking the surgical sites, and even a \u201ctimeout\u201d to ensure everything is in place and the site is confirmed just before surgery.But several years have passed since those rules went into effect. And the problem is still present. In 2004, 49 cases of\u00a0wrong-site surgeries were reported to the Joint Commission. In 2010, it was 93. While not all of these mistakes are reported to the Joint Commission, the rising rate provides a good indication that the problem is not going away and may actually be getting worse. According to\u00a0Kaiser Health News:[w]hat seemed pretty straightforward in 2004 now seems more complicated. \u201cI\u2019d argue that this really is rocket science,\u201d said Mark Chassin, a former New York state health commissioner and since 2008 president of the Joint Commission, which has issued refinements to the 2004 directive. Chassin said he thinks such errors are growing in part because of increased time pressures. Preventing wrong-site surgery also \u201cturns out to be more complicated to eradicate than anybody thought,\u201d he said, because it involves changing the culture of hospitals and getting doctors \u2014 who typically prize their autonomy, resist checklists and underestimate their propensity for error \u2014 to follow standardized procedures and work in teams.\u201cIt\u2019s disheartening that we haven\u2019t moved the needle on this,\u201d said Peter Pronovost, a prominent safety expert and medical director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Innovation in Quality Patient Care. \u201cI think we made national policy with a relatively superficial understanding of the problem.\u201d Pronovost suggests that doctors\u2019 lip service to the rules, which he calls \u201critualized compliance,\u201d may be a key factor. Studies of wrong-site errors have consistently revealed a failure by physicians to participate in a timeout.As a patient, it\u2019s in your best interest to double-check with your surgeon immediately before your procedure to make sure that he or she knows what they are operating on. It sounds pretty basic, but it could save your life or limb.The Law Office of Kelley J. Johnson Indiana Malpractice AttorneyAll medical malpractice cases are serious. When you put your body on the operating table, you should be able to trust that you\u2019re in good hands. When an \u201caccident\u201d or mistake happens, someone must be held responsible, and our lawyer can help.Contact our\u00a0Indiana medical malpractice attorney\u00a0today to discuss your case and your legal options."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wrong Body Part Operations a Significant Problem","item":"https:\/\/www.medmalpractice.law\/blog\/wrong-body-part-operations-significant-problem\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]