Chesapeake Chief Medical Officer Committed Surgical Error

Medical malpractice and doctor mistakes are widespread in Virginia. The Journal of the American Medical Association states more than 225,000 people lose their lives every year because of medical malpractice.

In a recent report the Virginian-Pilot reported how the chief medical officer at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center was put on probation for a few months in 2010 and 2011 by the Virginia Board of Medicine after he began procedures on the wrong side of a patient’s body.

The chief medical officer said he was not proud of what happened and he has since put protocols in place to protect patients. His medical license has been in good standing since 2011.

While America has some of the most advanced hospitals in the world, mistakes continue to be made with an alarming regularity. Medical malpractice can be botched surgery, an incorrect diagnosis that leads to harm or over or under medication that leads to complications.

Surgical errors lead to annual payouts of $1.3 billion every year in the United States. They include:

• Operating on the wrong part of a patient’s body, an estimated 20 times per week
• Conducting the wrong surgical procedure on a patient, roughly 20 times per week
• Leaving an object such as a surgical sponge inside a person, an average of 39 times per week.

If you or a loved one has suffered significant harm at a hospital due to a surgical error, you should contact our experience Virginia medical malpractice lawyers at 757.455.0077 or see CooperHurley.com.