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Subscribe to RSSA new report suggests doctors across the country are using surgical tools contaminated with blood and other debris and because the FDA doesn't require hospitals to report it, many incidents are unknown. NBC's chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.
By Stacey Naggiar and Kerri Zimmer
NBC News
When John Harrison checked into a Texas hospital in 2009 for rotator cuff surgery, he thought that after a six-week recovery period, he’d be as good as new. But two weeks after the operation, the 63 year-old was experiencing severe discomfort and swelling in his shoulder and knew something was terribly wrong.
During an emergency visit to the hospital, doctors told him that he had been infected during surgery with a deadly bacteria called P. aeruginosa. And Harrison wasn’t the only one -- six other patients who had undergone surgery at the same hospital had contracted potentially lethal infections as well.
The hospital, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, launched an investigation and closed operating rooms for two weeks. Surgery was cancelled while they searched for clues and they found some, in something called an arthroscopic shaver. Somehow potentially deadly bacteria had survived the sterilization process and infected Harrison’s shoulder.
And the problem isn’t isolated. Other investigations in hospitals across the country have revealed the use of other dirty surgical instruments, such as endoscopes used for colonoscopies, have led to infection outbreaks.
Investigative reporter Joe Eaton of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that focuses on ethics and public service, tackled the issue head on. As a result of the CPI investigation, NBC News Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman took a closer look at the wide range of instruments used during surgical procedures and the care with which they are handled. Who is in charge of cleaning the instruments? How are they sterilized? And how is the process regulated?
Q&A with Joe Eaton: Dirty surgical tools are gross, dangerous and more common
What NBC found suggests that the handling of the increasingly high-tech instruments can be a weak link in hospitals’ patient safety net.
Trust in the System
Every time surgeons enter the operating room, they and a team of skilled technicians, follow a very specific protocol. They check everything from electrical outlets to oxygen tanks, and double check the basics too, like confirming patient identity. Still, mistakes are made and infections occur -- sometimes because of factors out of the surgeon’s control.
The team in the operating room consists of trained specialists who undergo years of schooling for their respective professions. They have degrees. They are licensed. But the technicians responsible for sterilizing the tools used in procedures are actually not technicians at all.
In the Basement
The departments responsible for cleaning and reassembling surgical instruments -- usually known as “sterile processing” -- are frequently found in hospital basements and sometimes staffed by underpaid hourly laborers. These workers can be a forgotten and neglected part of the team involved in a surgical procedure. As the CPI report indicates, the sterilization workers say they feel more like they’re doing an unrecognized service, with pressure from nurses and surgical staff to make the process as fast as possible. The faster the instruments make it into the operating rooms, the more patients are moving through the surgical suites. But what may seem like a push for efficiency can backfire, with disastrous consequences.
New Jersey is the only state that requires hospital sterilization workers to undergo training.
Sharon Greene-Golden, head of “sterile processing” at Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in Virginia, points out that this is a job that must be done by skilled and certified technicians. She thinks of her team as the unseen patient advocates and says, “It is a job that cannot be given to robots because the robot doesn’t have the critical thinking to say this is still dirty.” At Bon Secours, Greene-Golden has made her sterile processing department state of the art, a model for what should be happening across the country.
New research finds that too often, surgical tools are leaving the basements still contaminated with hidden blood, tissue and other debris from previous surgeries. Risk management clinical engineer Jahan Azizi at the University of Michigan ran a video camera through 350 suction instruments and found that all of them contained some kind of debris after they had been sterilized according to protocol. His results were presented to the Food and Drug Administration at meetings this past year.
Regulation
According to a statement the FDA gave NBC News, “Hospitals are reminded to carefully clean and sterilize reusable medical devices. A patient’s risk of acquiring an infection from a reprocessed medical device is very low.” But requirements for reprocessing medical devices largely consist of such reminders. Although the FDA requires device manufacturers to provide cleaning instructions they don’t require hospitals to report dirty surgical instruments that find their way into operating rooms. And, only 25 states are required to report surgical site infections.
Complex Instruments
The CPI’s Eaton says that part of the problem is the increasing numbers of minimally invasive surgeries has spurred development of smaller, more complex instruments made from materials like tungsten, plastic and other polymers – not just steel and glass. Experts have pointed out that these new tools are harder to clean and require more detailed instructions from the manufacturers. The FDA requires surgical instrument manufacturers to provide cleaning instructions for each tool. But with rapid advances in surgical procedures over the past few decades some say these cleaning instructions have failed to keep up with the changing landscape of the industry.
“Theoretically, if a device is truly impossible to clean, it should never end up on the marketplace,” said Eaton.
Moreover, the testing of these reprocessing procedures are conducted in laboratories, not in the real world. This helps explain Azizi’s results in which 100 percent of suction tools he looked at were contaminated.
In a statement to NBC, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) responded that proper reprocessing of reusable medical devices is a shared responsibility between the FDA, device manufacturers, health care facilities and physicians.
“The medical technology industry is committed to providing patients with safe and effective medical devices and diagnostics," according to the AdvaMed statement. "Reprocessing of reusable medical devices is done in accordance with strict FDA requirements to ensure their safe and effective use. FDA requires manufacturers to provide health care facilities and physicians detailed instructions for the cleaning and sterilization of reusable medical devices. And manufacturers are required to validate that these instructions will result in clean, sterile devices."
Some experts say the system is flawed and what’s needed is tighter regulation from the government, manufacturers and hospitals -- as well as better communication. In the meantime, patients like Harrison are left with debilitating and lifelong repercussions. What was supposed to be a surgery that would improve his life has led to seven other surgeries. He now lives in constant pain, without the full use of his arm. Harrison says, “It’s changed my life …every aspect of it.”
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I have worked in a hospital with patients post surgically. You are delusional if you think that surgical infections are rare. They happen ALL the time! I used to tell my patients to make sure they were the first surgery of the day. Everything is super clean. I agree with the worker from VA, I think they should have to be certified and they should be licensed.
Not sure if i should share this, however i think I should. two yrs ago i had hip surgery, i was in ICU for (actually not sure how many days).
in the middle of the night one of the nurses( male nurse, that is all i know) put a IV in my hand, i thought this was a little strange because i already had IVS .
This was capped off, never used.about 6 month later i noticed that a lump was there on my hand , did not go away so my PCP suggested a biopsy, came back squamus cell cancer.
I often wonder if this was because i complained of all the noise and was told that i was the only one that could hear it because everyone else was dying. I even remember an applause when a code blue was coming to icu, then the next morning when i mentioned it to the supervisor he called me mrs. trouble. this is what happened to me does it sound unbelievable, of course.
That iv was never used ,I was uneasy about this being placed in my hand but i put my trust in them .
I should of spoke up but did now after seeing the today show i know that this was delibertly done to me . I wish i could name the hospital but do not think it is a wise thing to do.
always have someone with you is my advise. not to mention how instead of being turned I was flipped in the bed, i even had my incision changed by a nurse without gloves and peeling green nail polish, when i spoke up i was told it was ok because my incision was healed. ( this was maybe 2 days after my surgery.
now I need a knee replacement in the near future and where do i go?
I did have the cancer removed but for the rest of my life i need to be checked every 6 months .
as many IVS I have had in m,y lifetime this has never happened, this should never have even developed the lump so yes i do believe it was intentional.
be careful and ask a lot of questions
Why does the article NOT name the hospitals. They public deserves to know.
Those hospitals deserve the reputation the have earned or should be forced to shut their doors for good of the public.
Gayle, did you receive bad medical and nursing care? Perhaps. Did you get skin cancer from an IV? Absolutely not.
Close the Fed: Almost all of them. I come from a medical family, on the nursing side. They see it all, and they have been in most of the hospitals in town. Some are better than others, but the best are what they call, "bug factories."
U.S.A. We pay the most for the worst.
Hospital-acquired infections (which include surgical infections) are a major reason why the US is far behind other countries in health care services. HAIs are a major component of deaths and inbjuries due to medical malpractice. And don't think for a second that it is not medical malpractice. It is completely preventable. You have to remember that medical malpractice is the 5th leading cause of death in this country. There is no other country in the world where it is even in the top ten.
And the for-profit medical establishment (which includes all physicians) contends that 100% of the answer lies in tort reform. If you just put a low cap on medical malpractice awards, all will be right in the world. BS! We have to start shutting down hospitals and taking away licenses.
Ever wonder if a low paid restaurant worker is washing their hands when they should, while taking care of your food order, and just exactly what is in that secret sauce anyway?.....kinda the same thing as the sterility of medical facilities....out of sight, out of mind....and guess where you find the biggest variety of bacteria?.....right there in the hospital!
@Gayle - I find it difficult to believe a thing you said. No nurse is going to come into your room in the middle of the night and just stick an IV in your hand and cap it off. First of all, there would have to be a doctors order for them to put the IV in and everything the nurses do has to be recorded in your chart. If there was an IV put in that was not ordered and/or was not in your chart there would be an investigation and that nurse would in likelihood lose their license permanently. Secondly, there is no way you are going to get cancer from an IV being put in. I also do not buy that a nurse changed the dressing on you incision without gloves on. Nurses are just as concerned, if not more concerned, about protecting themselves from getting infections as they are about keeping you from getting them. No nurse is going near anything containing another person's bodily fluids like a dirty dressing they are removing without gloves to protect themselves. Other parts of your story also do not add up, like why you would be in an ICU following hip surgery. There is nothing about hip surgery, unless there were major complications, that would warrant being put in an ICU setting. As a former medical professional (EMT) and someone who counts many nurses among my friends, I think you just made this whole story up to have something to whine about on here.
As for the topic of the article, the proper cleaning and sterilization of medical equipment is a big deal. This should not be being done by low wage hourly workers. It should be done by skilled technicians who are properly trained and certified in the correct procedures to follow in order to ensure that the job us being done correctly. Hospital acquired infections are a huge problem and requiring training and certification of those cleaning and sterilizing surgical equipment seems like a very reasonable thing to do in order to help reduce this problem.
Tell me something, why is it that these people will not do the right thing unless the government is breathing down their necks?
Yet, these same folks complain about government sticking its nose into "private" business and regulating everyhing. This is nothing new -- shocking, yes --- but nothing new.
We pay the highest prices in the world for medical care, yet, this is what we get. Greed, ignorance and laziness are the hallmarks of this nation --- and they will be our downfall.
Is this enough to make people want to begin to "think for themselves?" I doubt it, I seriously doubt it. Let the FDA do the job? Are they just stupid, ignorant, or on the take? Watch any old time movie and the first thing the old doc asks for is boiling water; " start boiling some water ma..." Did you ask yourself who is the Center for Public Integrity? mentioned in this article and in the headline? Perhaps you all already know. If you don't you really should because they are another out of hundreds of thousands who are living large off the teat of the Federal Government aka you the common tax-payer. Yep, another non-profit 501c3, who pays no taxes and those who donate their money to them are allowed, by law, to write all or a major portion of that donation from their taxes, ( It Pays To Give). The end result, year after year, is trillions of untaxed dollars. It matters not if you agree or disagree with any given "Mission" from any given "non-profit: the bottom line is that we the people are footing their bill. Last week it was the Catholic church and birth control. One may agree or disagree; however the real issue is that they want their cake and eat it too. On the one hand they gladly accept 3 Billion every year from the feds then on the other they don't want to have to follow the law. My advise to any person out there without a job is to start up a 501c3. Decide on a good "Mission Statement." Write and write for government grants and wait for the money to pour in. If you dream up a good enough cause you can rake in millions from good hearted Americans; as in "Text Haiti." or "Text Katrina." It is about that time of year once again. Don't forget to write-off those rags you donated to Good Will or the Salvation Army.
This scares, sickens and disgusts me. From what I've seen in various documentaries, the standards for sterilization are higher for TATTOO PARLORS than they are for hospitals (probably based on the suspect argument that "hospitals are more 'professional', so they don't need the oversight"). My God.
Only ONE state in the nation requires its sterilization personnel to be licensed??
No, post-surgical infections are NOT completely preventable. Everyone has bacteria on their skin. They cannot be entirely eliminated. Period. Sometimes, they cause infections. Steps can be taken to prevent infections, but until skin can be sterilized, and it can't, post-surgical infections will be possible.
article - "New Jersey is the only state that requires hospital sterilization workers to undergo training."
That was a shocker to me. Inconceivable! I hope a medical person sees this article and realizes how they could make some big bucks getting the nation streamlined on better care through standardizing sterilization processes. Community colleges with a medical program for LPNs and Techs ought to get right on this and add a certificate course.
There's no connection between your cancer and the IV, Gayle. It came from your lifetime of sun exposure. Are you blond or a redhead or brunette with fair skin? That and your exposure to the sun is the cause.
While I see the need for this story, I have to laugh at the hypocrisy of MSN and all the other liberal news media!
Here they are pointing out this medical problem while everyday ignoring and keeping quiet the the fact that abortion mills are the biggest abusers of dirty instruments.
Well, well, I guess they can't expose anything that endangers one of their ideological sacred cows!
David - but then, without articles like this, YOU would not be able to get up on your soapbox, right? You're a real chuckle alright.
Gayle Mullins, whether you understood what happened then or not, you should have immediately contacted the hospital representative/advocate. Every hospital, and most clinics have one.
As a registered nurse that works in the operating room I know for a fact that we work hard in protecting the patient from injury and that includes making sure that we protect the patient from possible infections. There are state, federal and local standards that we must follow that protects not only the patient but the health-care worker as well. People act shocked that 1 in 1000 patients may acquire a nosocomial infection when not too long ago it was 1 in 100 and before that it was 1 in 10. It wasn't that long ago that we learned that simply washing your hands would prevent the spread of disease. While our healthcare system is not the best in the world it most definitely isn't the worse. The improvements on how we care for patients and how we sterilize and maintain sterility in the operating room have grown tremendously. What it comes down to is personal pride in the individual providing the service to the patient. Whether they are a minimum wage worker or a corporate CEO, if they do not take pride in doing the best they can in cleaning, sterilizing and maintaining the surgical instruments then incidences like this will happen. While holding a license or certification states that a person took the time and effort to obtain the knowledge needed to work in that field it still does not mean that that individual is qualified to do what they do. We need to keep working towards continuously improving our work habits and work knowledge and create an environment within these departments that reinforces the importance of maintaining and or exceeding the standards of care. We tell our staff that one day it could be one of us on that OR table or someone we love and what kind of care do you think they deserve.
My job during college was working in Sterile Processing, do to a change in my degree I got the opportunity to work at a few different hospitals but what was amazing is like the article says people who work in the "basement" really do feel under-appreciated and aren't very careful. I found many cannulated instruments that had not been cleaned properly and still had blood in them after the cleaning process and some workers did not check this and would just put them in the sterilizer like this. I was never given formal training to work in Sterile Processing, when you are a newbie you are thrown in the back room sorting dirty instruments and either hand washing them or putting them into the washer...it is a miserable job because you are all gowned up, (I double gloved) gloved, goggled and have steam and water swirling around you. Towards the end of my Sterile Processing stint I prided myself to be in the dirty room to make sure everything was meticulously cleaned. When I had my kids I ended up with two c-sections and was adamant with my doctor about the instruments because I had worked in that Sterile Processing ands knew the quality of work coming out of it and asked her to check her instruments...I still ended up with a infection from my first c-section. My second c-section I insisted on being the first c-section patient of the day so then I did not end up with "flashed" instruments because of the high turnover rate of c-section instruments. This should be a major article in the main news rooms not a by-story.
One thing I feel is contributing to the spread of hospital acquired infections- NOBODY washes their hands anymore with soap and water. All they use are the anti-bacterial lotions, etc. The problem is that those wipes and lotions DON'T KILL VIRUSES. Like Noroviurs, influenza, etc. Washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds will wash away the virus and bacteria (at least enough so as not to cause transmission).
Gayle, It is policy at the hospital I work for to start two iv's when a pt is going to ICU or Step down ICU. The second one is usually a saline lock.
Ewwwww !!
.
chris,
you clearly have no background in infectious diseases. Just like sandy said, it is impossible to prevent all infections. Do you realize you have more bacteria cells in and on you than human cells? Try keeping just a few hundred of these where they are not supposed to be
For example, many people are colonized with MRSA in their nares. No amount of handwashing will prevent you from SELF contaminating yourself, either from direct or indirect contact into a surgical wound.
In fact, because of this, my hospital has recently required cleansing swabs into the nose of every patient scheduled for cardiac surgery to help reduce this risk
Chris - What makes you think that non-profit hospitals would be better protected from hospital acquired infections? BTW, how many businesses can you name that are not out to make a profit other than charities? Do you think that physicians should donate their services? Don't you expect a paycheck at the end of the day, week or month?
Gayle - that one phrase sums it all up...you are a whiner. How does one differentiate between being turned and flipped. Aren't they the same? Most of what you are relating are probably hallucinations from when your anesthesia was wearing off.
It is not the procedure that kills the patient, it is the infection!
I worked for a company that sold surgical instruments and my experience in some of the better known hospitals in the US would make you cringe. This comes down to the responsibility of the OR Supervisors and the SPD services in the hospitals.
They need to be taught proper instrument cleaning, not only in Sterlization, but in the OR. Many OR Tech do not put used instruments in basins with cleansing solutions, thereby making sure there is dried blood and tissue matter by the time they get to Sterilization. It is then up to the SPD tech to make sure these instruments are scrubbed of all dried matter, and if they are scissors or forceps, they need to be placed on the trays in the open position, thereby insuring the box-lock, which holds a multitude of crud, is cleaned as well! And don't get me started on Hospitals that reuse scalpels...wtf is that about...they only cost pennies!
Btw, always schedule your procedures 1st thing in the morning....this is to insure the instruments are better sterilized!
Little steps makes a lot of difference!
The selfish attitude so apparent in our country knows no bounds. Medical providers who were once considered above reproach in terms of ethics and procedure, now join the ranks of the unscrupulous scum who take advantage of their position and reputation for personal gain. Like the bum who would recommend replacement parts for your car when there is no need, or the crooked contractor, electrician or plumber. I have a friend in the jewelry business and the horror stories he tells about people being ripped off could fill volumes in text.
This attitude knows know specific line of work but crosses the lines into any kind of business or service one can imagine. The problem lies not in the professions or the products and services but in the people that are associated with providing them. Like a recent story about a dentist that admitted filling thousands of teeth unnecessarily the list goes on and on! This particular story hits home because of the personal nature, bad medicine is no respecter of persons...(post 1.1 should send shivers up and down your spine....I'm sure this sort of thing happens now and then, probably more often than we'd like to think.)
So much for the evolutionary thinking that man will progress and improve over time. The biggest strides in mankind over the centuries has been in his ability to be more efficent at killing one another. Look around, from your backyard to Bosnia the proof is in the pudding! There's a war going on out there and it's it not just in some third world country you can't pronounce, it's closer than you think. (Too much gloom and doom, sorry I didn't make the rules.)
In this hurry-up to make a buck world, often the patient becomes a victim in and ever sprawling evil web of greed and despair. Worried about the price of gas----that's the least of your concerns! The pot is about to boil over and no one is minding the kitchen. Until a change takes place in the hearts and minds of the people we can't expect much improvement.......don't hold your breath!
JS in SD, I am a registered nurse and I have worked all over the country. In every institution I have worked in, EMT's were only allowed to work in the ER (unless they were moonlighting as a patient care tech or a nurse's aide on other units), so I will keep in mind that your first hand knowledge of which you speak came from the ER. The ER is a very different animal than any other unit in a hospital. I have seen plenty of nurses do things without gloves that would make your skin crawl and then not wash their hands afterwards...then see the eating with those same hands a couple of minutes later. Not everyone is in protection mode...doctors included. There does not have to be an order to put in an IV. IV's are changed every 72 hours (supposed to be, anyway) and as long as the patient has active orders for IV administration of any thing, nurses will keep the IV's in place and rotate sites per protocol. I am not surprised at all to hear that a nurse went in a room and put an IV in without saying anything to the patient. Unfortunately, there are plenty of these types of nurses out there. Sad, actually, but a fact. As for documentation, don't hold your breath on that one either. It is very true that in a court of law "if it is not written, it did not happen" is the assumption. This is why nurses should do the best job of documenting...when it comes down to it, that written note may be the only thing that keeps you out of jail. Many nurses are so over worked that documentation suffers. I have done more than enough chart audits to see nurses docmenting in a way that hangs them out to dry...whether it be by omission or admission, it matters not.
Having said all of this, I do believe that Gayle could have had this very experience. Also, some hospitals do put post op patients in ICU depending on how small the hospital is. Usually, the smaller the hospital the least number of nurses and units available qualified for this level of post op care. However, she did not get skin cancer from the IV.
Caveowner - I am glad I never had you as my nurse when I was in the hospital. I also say that you must have worked in some pretty piss-poor hospitals if hat you are saying is true. I have unfortunately spent a good deal of time in the hospital in my life and you are full of crap that they change IVs every 72 hours. I have spent long stay in the hospital, several of a week or so and including one stay of 43 days due to a severe injury and I can assure you they were not moving my IV site every three days. I also have may friends and ex-girlfriends who are nurses so I know quite a bit about the profession. From your comment, I have my doubts that you are an RN as no RN would behave the way you describe. As for the IV - a nurse may move and IV without a doctors order, but they certainly would not start a second line with an order to do so. The fact that you do not know, as well as your lackadaisical attitude towards charting, that makes me seriously question your competence as a nurse.
Certification only proves that someone went to school to be a instrument processor, That doesn't mean that they are qualified to do that job. Just about every job requires some certificate or license but that doesn't mean that that person will practice what they were taught.Also aren't the instrumnts checked before the surgery starts?
eric is right. My cousin's husband is being treated for multiple myeloma. Upon admission to the hospital, he was tested for MRSA, and he carries it in his nares. This was NOT hospital-acquired, as it was present at admission. The hospital tested both him and my cousin at the time of his admission.
Maybe a second IV line was started and capped off because Gayle potentially needed a blood transfusion. Perhaps she lost a lot of blood during the surgery which is why she was sent to the ICU instead of to the med/surg floor. Happens all the time.
Gayle, you did not get cancer from the IV.
And I completely agree with David-3994413 about the hypocrisy of the mainstream, liberal-biased media in this country. They would never do an expose' on Planned Parenthood or any other abortion mill because it would cast a negative light on a very dark business that happens to be one of the tenets of their twisted ideology.
Great point, David.
Your story on surgical instruments has left me feeling completely validated. In 2008 I had back surgery and almost died from the infection. I was 49 years old at the time and have not been able to work since the surgery. What is really frustrating is that the patient has no recourse. The hospital is not held accountable and will still charge you for their services. Then you can't work and have to pay the bills. I have felt all along that the infection came from the hospital but they say their is no way to prove that. I would also like to see you do a story about the long term effects of a serious infection on the body. Autoimmune diseases are frequently caused by infections. The infection I had has certainly changed my quality of life. I now have arachnoiditis and am in constant pain. After almost 4 years I am finally at a place where I can live this new life and not feel too resentful. Something definitely needs to change. Thank you for your reporting. It is important information. Melonie
I know what you mean! I had rotatory cuff surgery in 2004, ended up with a bacteria infection. Four surgeries later my pain has gotten better because of a partial replacement. But the infection is still there! I take antibiotics every day indefinitely, have very little use of my right arm. Couldn't work anymore (I had restrictions,I worked for the medical facility where I had surgery). I know my life and the life's of my loved ones has been seriously affected. Oh and this all took place at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN..............it can happen any where!
I can certainly agree with you, as a result of disc fusion surgery I encountered a septic infection, five weeks in a coma like state, loss of the use of most of my left leg, constant debilitating pain, unable to function and earn a living, now have to face that one of the cages used to secure the fused vertabra is broken and jutting into a nerve, requiring another major surgery. We have no recourse and are expected to pay the ascine bills they send and pay for physical therapy. Talking with others I find far too many who relate hospital infections that destroy our quality of life. The only aspect of golden in the golden years is the gold color of the urine!
I also got an infection after back surgery. I had to be on IV antibiotics for 8 weeks before making a full recovery. This cost a lot of money, and I resent every penny. Of course, I was told "These things just happen in 2% on the cases. Not true. Some doctors and hospitals have better records than others. A year later, when I had my knee replaced, I made various inquiries and found a doctor (Dr Waldman) and a hospital (Sinai in Baltimore) with a very low infection rate. Everything went very well - I was walking with a cane in 2 days, and made a full recovery. It pays to check around.
Hospital infection rates should be public knowledge.
Had something similar happen when I had a hysterectomy in 2000. Got an infection that caused an abscess on the abdominal wall. Infected my urinary tract, my bladder, both kidneys and one of my lungs. Spent 18 days in the hospital on IV drugs having test after test after test trying to get rid of the infection that came very close to killing me. And another year of seeing a urologist to make sure my kidney's were functioning properly. The bill for the infection was 4 times the bill for the surgery. My Dr. flat out told me it was caused by either surgical instruments that were not sterile or someone mishandled the catheter and it was not sterile. Not a damn thing you can do about it.
You can ask for infection rates at a hospital. However, these values are collected from surgeons and some may not be as forthcoming with infection rates.
That all being said, to believe that our hospital are "bug factories" and that infection, whether surigcal or otherwise is rare is misguided.
Infection is not all preventable. Period. Couple this with increasing levels of obesity, Diabetes, poor nutrution, smoking, etc.. and you can see why infection rates are what they are. Granted there are preventable infections, but not all. There are so many factors to account for. Additionally, there are more and more "super bugs" that are resistant to many of the common pre-surgical antibiotics given today.
Infections will always occur because there is bacteria everywhere and no safeguards are fail-safe. The goal is to do everything we can to prevent them. That being said, I do agree those cleaning our surgical instruments need to be certified and well trained.
While I see the need for this story, I have to laugh at the hypocrisy of MSN and all the other liberal news media!
Here they are pointing out this medical problem while everyday ignoring and keeping quiet the the fact that abortion mills are the biggest abusers of dirty instruments.
Well, well, I guess they can't expose anything that endangers one of their ideological sacred cows!
there
Thank you for sharing this information! My Dad almost died because of an infection he was exposed to when he had a pacemaker placed in him. He was very ill for 3 years until a wonderful doctor and my family demanding they look at his pacemaker to see if there could be an infection on his pacemaker. 3 years later that's what it was and they had to remove the pacemaker and put a new one in. Very, very scary ordeal and extra procedures on my Dad's heart and body. Needless to say it is a miracle that we still have him! I hope hospitals are forced to train their surgical cleaning staff. This story was shocking that they get paid min. wage for something that is so important to the surgical staff and the patient.
I would like to see a follow up story about hospitals reprocessing medical devices by third party companies. This, in my opinion, is something the public deserves to know about not only because of the chance of cross-contamination but also because these reprocessed devices are purchased for a substantially lower cost, yet still charged to the patient for the price of a new device. The article stated that "100% of suction tools are contaminated", but my question is, why would one reuse ANY kind of suction tool on a different patient? Hospitals have a duty to follow specific standards of care and treat patients equally, however today it seems those standards are weighed too heavily on ways to increase profitability.
AlliDoll,
First let me address the statements that you have made in your comment about 3rd party companies. Obviously you are not properly informed about medical procedure billing or coding. Hospitals are not charging a patient for each individual item - there is a uniform charge for a procedure. It is a contracted rate with each insurance company. There is no charges for individual surgical instruments. Therefore when a hospital is using a 3rd party company - which many do - it is helping alot of things behind the scenes. It is helping an OR purchase new equipment that is the latest technology, it is helping keep those valuable nurses up to date on their continueing education training, and certainly not least - it is paying for those patients who don't pay their bill! "3rd party" companies are no different than an original manufacturer. There is a difference in their company's service, professionalism and yes, sometimes overall product. The real determination is RESEARCH. Why would large companies that are world renown in the medical field - and are partnered with the AdvaMed organization - still be in business if they weren't regulated and governed? Believe it or not - these reprocessing and medical device recycling companies are mandated far more than the original manufacturers are. They are held to a higher standard than the OEMs are, and they are also paying more to obtain the 501k clearance through the FDA than the OEMs are. This isn't a business for idiots. There are absolutely bad reprocessing/recycling companies, and they aren't owned by a Johnson & Johnson or Stryker Corporation. The companies who are owned and governed by a larger, reputable, and reliable OEM are obviously successful, reputable, and reliable for a reason.
Bottom line - this article wasn't targeting the 3rd party reprocessing companies - it was pointing out the severe lack of knowledge and competency of those within the hospital. A follow up article would be a highly appropriate vehicle for those of the general public to actually become educated and know how to make an informed opinion versus an uneducated, jaded one.
It's not just the hospitals, sometimes it's the Dr.'s OFFICE! I recieved a staff infection from taking chemothrapy from a Doctor where the office was NOT sterile and clean. Needless to say I never went back, and found another Dr. That was an ENTIRELY different experience. The chemo room was so clean. That was 18 years ago!
staph, as in "staphylococcal infection". I seriously doubt that you received an infection from the hospital staff.
Also, "i" before "e" except after "c", as in "received".
It was good to finally hear this subject brought to the public. My mother had back surgery , came home, and became very ill. She was rushed back to the hospital to find she had a staph infection from the sugery, which destroyed the surgery, and nearly took her life. She spent 3 months in the hospital, and then more time in a rehab facility, to be able to learn to walk again. She never fully recovered. Then a 2nd time at the same hospital, she got something called C-difficile, which is a life sentance. Another time, she was given an overdose of morphine, which ended up life lining her to a major hospital. Needless to say, our whole family now is afraid of hospitals, and I hope I will never have to go to one. Sad to say....my mother passed away eventually after the last ordeal. It was a though....everytime she went to the hospital........she became more ill. Still very sad that there was nothing I could do about it. Thanks again Today Show............
Same thing happened to my wife. Successful back surgery: 24-hours later she couldn't move. Contracted MRSA while in surgery. Nearly killed her, ruined her life. Go try and prove the hospital was responsible.
Me, I'm going overseas if I need anything. The hospitals there can't afford the bad PR these kinds of infections would garner.
C-difficile is not a life sentence, it is treatable with antibiotics. It is curable. Did you also know that staph is all over everybodys body everywhere. Staph loves our salty skin, unlike most other bacteria.
Ive worked on both sides of that fence, and Sterile process is a very thankless job and OR staff think you just wash/count/sterilize. When you have a 24/7 hospital you're pushing 100's of instrument trays left and right. Its stressful at times. BUT, you have to make sure that you are doing the job right! Its not easy but attention to detail is very important in SPD and the OR. Just that small skill makes a big difference!
You pay for what you get . I agree the people that clean the ts should be well paid . Their job is just is inportant as the doctors. We the people allow our systems to break down . always about the money .
I've been fighting an infection from hernia repair since October and had to undergo a second surgery to try and eliminate the problem. My question is - what do I do about it? I'm not in a position to hire a lawyer to sue. I am littered with enormous hospital and doctor bills. Any advice would be extremely helpful.
Sherry, most lawyers do not charge unless you win the case. You may also want to contact the StatesDept. of Public Health. Most Hospitals deny any wrong doing. They also cover up on their paperwork too.My wife contracted a seriousa infection which almost killed her. When I spoke to the hospital Infection Control Manager, she just smiled and said "prove it".
Get a lawyer.
The hospitals and doctors only have a license to practice medicine so they feel they should not have any responsibility for their outcomes. In my lowly opinion this is a poor way to operate a professional practice. What other profession or business would survive if they operated like the hospitals and surgeons? The hospitals and Surgeons have no "recourse" since they are well connected politicaly and through lobbying. We spend more on health care in the USA, with poorer outcomes than any other advanced nation, I attribute this to greed on the part of the insrance industry, greed on the part of the medical profession and greed on the part of the Pharma industry.
Concernedusa, I agree completely that your opinion is "lowly", but don't underestimate yourself. It's also uninformed, inflammatory, factually incorrect. You also do not know how to use the term "recourse", so add uneducated to the list.
FYI
re·course/ˈrÄ“ËŒkôrs/
Noun:
Anyhow, I just thought I'd find something in the nonsense you posted with which to agree.
You definitely should consider a consultation with an attorney. We can help you out! Here is the name of John Harrison's attorney- Carl Shaw. Visit either of his two websites shawlawtexas.com or reusablemedicaldevices.com or Also call at 713-742-9529 (713-SHAW-LAW)
I have had about 15 surgeries in the last few years and I have never got any kind of infection. I also have someone staying with me 24/7 to make sure I am properly cared for. I've had nurses come in and not wash their hands or put on gloves and try to change the dressing on my incisions. I always tell them to wash their hands and put gloves on, or if I'm to drugged up the person staying with me tells them to. I know the nurses are way overworked and understaffed, but thats not an excuse for not being sterile.
Sherry, in answer to your question I have had three surgeries where I didn't pay the whole bill. First one the E.R. Dr. misdiagnosed me and I ended up with a ruptured appendix, with gangrene and peritonitis. I of course had to stay in the Hospital way longer than I would have if the first Dr. did his job. I paid the surgeon and all the members of the operating team, because I would have needed the surgery anyway. As far as the Hospital went I told them, they were crazy if they thought I was going to pay for one of their staffs incompetence. Of course we went back and forth, but they finally decided it was better to just write the bill off then get drug into court or reported to the media. The other two times the performed procedures on me with me awake, I didn't pay those bills either. The main thing people need to remember is you are the patient and you have a right to tell someone to wash their hands, put on gloves or whatever you feel like needs to be done to protect yourself. Don't be afraid to stand up for yourself, if you get a nurse that doesn't treat you right request another one. You have to be your own advocate sometimes.
Resolution of this would require proper govt regulation and oversight. But we can't have that because we worship the free market. Ron Paul would be DELIGHTED with this article because it shows how the free market works. Wonderful, ain't it? Pretty soon, if the GOP has their way, these same situations will show up on maintenance of airliners, the trucks on our highways, etc. Ah, the free market at work...a wonder to behold. Vote GOP! Less govt. regulation means more profit for the businesses that own hospitals. Who CARES what happens to patients?
No kidding. Patients are literally at the mercy of doctors/hospitals/insurers with very little recourse. Sure, you can hire a lawyer, but as previously pointed out, medical malpractice is very difficult to prove and often they get away with it. Plus, with possible tort reform, even if you do win a suit, your recovery will be capped at some amount too low to really deter future wrongdoing. So they will continue to provide substandard care, while sending you gigantic bills which you better pay or else. And if you are really unfortunate, your insurance carrier will find some BS reason to not cover your treatment, and next thing you know, you are ill, broke and losing your house. And we still get to call ourselves a world-power and "first-world. " Here's to laissez faire!!!
I don't know if this holds true for all states, but in FL, malpractice claims against a doctor or surgeon is capped at $250,000. Which is BS in my opinion. That tells me the medical community places a very low value on human life. The lives they are entrusted to care for, and the lives which they make their living by treating.
Bob, your ridiculous. I don't know any Republican who wants to reduce safety regulations in the medical industry. My wife is a physician and we are big on medical safety.
Your post is just another example of a Dem activist hack trying to divide people and falsely portraying Republican positions to score cheap political points.
PS, forgot to mention, in FL the doctors are not required to carry liability Ins. as long as they keep a dedicated account, certified to be valued at $250,000, in lieu malpractice Ins. They are required to have a notice posted in their office stating that do not carry malpractice Ins if they elect to go with the account method.
Bob, It should be pointed out to you that the White House, and the Senate, are under Democratic control and therefore you are pointing fingers at the wrong party.
Question for all the pro-lawyer people out there
Do you think med mal suits are a good way to enforce good medical practice? Why so and what's your evidence?
I have a whole lot of evidence to the contrary. Even if you wanted to argue that med mal suits encourage good medical practice, it is a horribly inefficient way to do so. It costs money in the form of defensive medical practices, increased hospital cost, and malpractice insurance cost that is passed along to the patient. Not too mention exorbitant settlements and judgements made more out of emotion often than from facts
Just look at the statistics. More than 75% of cases are dismissed, but not before thousands of dollars are racked up as cost to the system. That statistic tells you than many claims are baseless and/or lack sufficient evidence and should not have been brought to trial in the first place
Sure, we need a way to monitor and punish bad behavior among physicians. But I don't see how any reasonable person can't see that our current tort system is not the best way to do it
So what you're saying is the Democrats are the ones who don't want to regulate hospitals?
Well, they'll knock us down with sky high prices and insurance rates and then deliver the coup' De' gras with a deadly infection from unsterilized surgical equipment.
I get my medical care from the VA but I sure wouldn't let them do major surgery on me.....NO WAY!
I believe that everyone who works in a hospital or other medical facility where procedures are performed, including dentists, eye doctors, and even your family physician, needs specific training with regard to proper care and handling of instruments. I'm not advocating college-level degrees, but something other than the bare minimum. After all, our health is at stake here. I hope the facilities in Virginia and New Jersey can introduce a prototype program for all facilities to learn and follow in the near future.
They do have proper training in handling and caring for instruments but if that individual does not care enough to do the job properly then that training flies out the window. It goes back to the individual. I can slop a hamburger together and serve it to the public but can I craft a wonderful tasting lunch that will please even the hardest of critics? Back in the 20's and 30's people used to care and take pride in their work. Now days if you can't compete with the pay and benefits package you can't find anyone to fill the positions. Finding hard working and competent workers in these departments is hard and no amount of money can pay for an individuals ethics or morals when it comes to making sure they have done a thorough inspection of these instruments before they are sterilized.
I really hate stories like this -- pure sensationalism. You take one isolated or a few isolated cases and then attempt to extrapolate this into a national emergency without any data provided. Just speculation. The result is a comment board of a bunch of me-too's that had an infection after surgery automatically concluding it must have been the use of contaminated surgical equipment. Many of the specialized surgical equipment mentioned in the article used today are actually disposable. And as far as beckoning the call for a government mandated watchdog program, you need to look no farther than the government owned hospitals -- the VA. How successful is the VA at preventing infections?? (Oh wait I bet they don't keep track of these statistics either). Sterilaztion methods for each hospital are reviewed and modified by JACOH on bi-annual visits, so its not like each hospital is running wild doing their own thing. Contamination can surely happen, but without any hard specifics giving an indication of the scope of the problem, anectotal stories do nothing than just spread FUD!
When 100% of the "spot checking" returns indicating problems, it is not "one isolated or a few isolated cases" ... it's a problem that needs to be addressed.
KeDog. Many strains of bacteria can only be found in hospitals and medical facilities. It's often easy enough to determine if the bacteria is in the typical environment of the patients. Of course this takes money. Something a lot of people don't have.
Since you brought up JACOH certification processes, I can tell you that it's easy to distract and redirect them, from experience.
My sister had a reduction surgery in which both of her breasts became infected causing the aureoles to fall off. The doctor/hospital was unwilling to admit fault of the infection and even discontinued care until my grandmother (who is a registered RN, LPN and taught nursing) got involved. She knew which threats were effective in getting the correct care that my sister needed. Threats of lawsuits are often the threat that will get the job done. Telling them that you are going to call the states medical boards and file a formal complaint and that you will place an article in the newspaper letting all who read it know the type of medical care that you received from said doctor/hospital will get you farther than a law suite.
The whole medical malpractice system has only two objectives: 1) to compensate the victim as little as possible, and 2) to act as a barrier to keep the victim from taking further action against the person responsible.
Medical malpractice insurance companies love it because the more malpractice there is the more they can charge people and the more profits they make.
But there have been studies, for example, that show that malpractice lawsuits would be reduced by as much as 80% if only the person/institution(s) responsible would simply accept responsibility and apologize to the victim and/or family. Stonewalling and trying to cover things up and refusing to accept responsibility are the proximal causes of malpractice suits. The victims or their families, more than anything else, want to force the medical professional or institution to accept responsibility. But no one will do it.
We need some serious tort reform. Not caps on damages, because that is just a way of limiting payouts to real victims. Jury awards are based on evidence and are thrown out or reduced if appealed when they are really excessive.
But there are things we can fix.
1) Give judges in malpractice cases the ability to reduce the victim's own legal fees to a reasonable hourly rate as a part of the settlement. Many poor and middle-class people lose much of awards to lawyers who charge 30% or so if they win. Sometimes this is fair and sometimes it is not. There is no reason for 30% when it was a slam dunk case.
2) Forbid the current practice of annuitizing jury awards. The scenario runs something like this: A jury awards a victim $200k for actual damages (medical bills) and $1 million in punitive damages. The lawyer is working on contingency for 30%. He tells the victim that the jury has awarded him $1,200,000 and all he has to do is sign on the dotted line. The victim signs and then gets the bad news. He just agreed to receive the payment as an anuity. The malpractice insurance can purchase a $1.2 million annuity for about $400k, so they just saved a bundle (and will remember the victim's lawyer at Christmas.) That will at least give a small monthly check, right? Well, there is more bad news: the lawyer's 0% is based on the $1.2 million number and comes to $360k, payable immediately. But the victim doesn't have the $360k, so the lawyer takes it out of the annuity principal of $400k or so. So now the victim has an annuity of $40k from which to pay $200k in medical bills. Bankruptcy time. The victim just went from being a millionaire to bankrupt in an instant. This can and should be stopped. Anuities as settlements need to be completely stopped or disclosed fully to both the jury and the victim.
3) The settlement or award documentation always contains clauses that forbid telling the amount of the award, the names of those responsible, or seeking any additional criminal, legal, or professional sanctions against those responsible. Judges in malpractice cases should be able to directly refer cases to criminal investigators, professional licensing borads, and other interested parties and such privacy clauses should be eliminated from settlements and awards. Didja know that physicians are among the most heavy suers for slander and libel and it is almost always for disclosing the details of a malpractice case or its resolution. This only serves to protect the licenses or bad physicians and bad institutions and actually drives up malpractice costs.
4) We need to start looking at medical malpractice as something that cannot be fixed by putting a cap on jury awards to victims. Those award are huge because the effects of medical malpractice are devastatingly expensive. And punitive awards are huge because the jury wants to send a messsage that will be heard by the professional or institution. But medical malpractice insurance acts as a buffer to keep that message from being received, and appropriate responsibility from being accepted and preventive actions being taken in the future. This country leads the world in medical malpractice incidents (per capita, total number, and per patient or procedure.) The for-profit medical industry (which includes malpractice insurance companies) try to spin it to make the awards look high or unjustified, but the truth is that juries see right through both unjustified claims and "pitiful me" physicians who "just made an honest mistake." Carelessness needs to be punished. It is a national disgrace that medical pmalpractice is the 5th leading cause of death in this country.
Yet according to you, our healthcare system is one of the worst. From this statement alone, I can refute everything you posted above
The only surgical equipment I have ever seen are prepackaged disposable surgical kits. One time use and they are put in the bio hazard sharps containers and properly disposed.
This is one reason medical care is so expensive. Almost nothing is reused. Even the prepackaged scissors used to cut the stitches on my finger were tossed in the trash can.
You have never seen surgical instruments because clearly you are not someone who works in the OR. Get real. I've been an OR nurse for 30 years - trust me, we have literally thousands of instruments that get processed every day. What you have "seen" is quick, cheap disposable scissors specifically designed for a suture removal kit - they wouldn't even stand up to sterilizing. It would cost more to clean, process and sterilize new scissors each time - THAT would drive up costs. Perhaps you should comment only on articles when you actually are knowledgeable of the subject.
Carol, Its nice to hear from another old timer. I have been a surgical nurse for 38 years and over that time have seen Nosocomial infections come and go. With a large amount of our surgical supplies being disposable and we still use numerous pans of instruments to perform our procedures. With that being said and agreeing that there are hospital acquired infections present please remember people who have surgical incisions do go home and they do acquire infections from their home. Its easy to blame the hospital for anything that goes wrong and being a society that loves to sue and blame the other guy its always easy to say "Hey it can't be me it has to be them."
Patients are dirty people, they come in a large number of them neglecting to shower the morning of surgery hell some don't even wash their hands evidenced by the grunge under their nails. These same people let family members see the incision change a dressing at home with unwashed bare hands and god forbid forget to wash their hands afterwards.
We in medical care don't have control over what you do at home we can't. As for the people in SPD (sterile processing department) There are certification programs and most of the facilities I have worked at require these certificates as a requirement of employment. All Nosocomial infections are reported by law and in the case of medicare/medicaid patients there is no payment for treatment of the infection and or side effects. So hospitals are acutely aware of aseptic technique and so are the employees.
But we live in America so if its a sensationalistic piece of non-news we will jump on the band wagon scream for more government interference err excuse me more government regulation and then we will scream about the spiraling cost of healthcare even more when more paperwork and more employees are hired to handle the new paperwork.
As for the people who posted their stories of infections and how they knew it had to be the hospitals fault I say for those who actually had nosocomial infections I am truly sorry it happened we are not perfect. For those who blame the hospitals for self acquired infections all I can say is wash your hands after using the bathroom and have family do the same. We are our own infectious bug garden.
justfedupentirely-Baloney. I've seen nurses open band-aids with their teeth. Neither do they wash their hands. Ever. Occasionally one will use the "anti-bacterial" lotion-which only kills "99.9% of bacteria, not viruses.
I agree Carol and Just. I have worked in the OR for 27 years and I also teach a Central Sterilization Technician class as well. When patients come into the operating room and you have to dig dirt and even bugs out of their belly buttons before you can prep them you learn just how disgusting humans can be. Basic hygiene such as washing your hands or even taking a daily bath is absent in some of these patients. We are our own worse enemies when it comes to infections. Some people are staph carriers and it can be cultured in their noses. Like someone previously said, "You cannot sterilize skin", therefore the chances for a post-op infection is there. Standards require that all patients receive a pre-op antibiotic no more than 1 hour before incision time thereby reducing the chances of an infection but as you say what happens after the patient leaves our care is up to the patient. We cannot control what they do. We are constantly striving to improve ways to prevent infections and give better care to our patients. Nothing is 100% perfect and we will never be able to prevent SSI's 100%. And rushing to a lawyer just because you "think" the hospital caused your infection isn't the answer.
Been reading these post with a lot of interest, since I was an RN back in the ice age of the 70s. You are right about the patients being their own ''bug farm''. Everyone thinks they can take antibiotics for any little sniffy nose and what ever is wrong. We now pay the price for that with these super bug in the hospital and the doctors are scratching their head ,what to do next.
I can still remember my first day of getting to know the working of a hospital as a grad student, you guess it. Cleaning instruments for the autoclave. The Nurse in charge down there was a real bear too, she put the fear of God in you about everything being prepared per instructions with someone double checking your work. I know today everything is streamline and there are little folks walking around down in the autoclave room with''tech'' tags on their chest, who between coffee breaks do put packs in the autoclave. It has become a problem of it being just a job, not something that they take pride in and I have hear some that think that as long as it is in the autoclave, its ok. They have this strange idea that everything is the responsible of the doctors and they don't care about missing a few thing hanging onto an instrument.
There are some of the people,who are lower on the totem pole,that take price in their job. i worked with a cleaning lady who prep the beds and area in ICU in one hospital I worked in. She was a fountain of information on cleaning and what works and does not work.when she cleaned an area, IT was Clean. She took price in what she did and you knew that it was done right every time. When you put your patient into a bed that she cleaned, you knew there was never any fluids on the rails,wall or any where else from the last one in that bed. I always thanked her for the work she did. some times it would help for the nursing staff to take the few seconds to thank those cleaner, scrubber,take away the equipment people for their work. IT only takes a second or two and I know you are busy, but it makes life a little more enjoyable all around and sometime it will give those doing these thankless jobs a little more pride in their work.
I had a hysterectomy in June of 2010 The hospital used a robotic machine called the Davinchi., I was released from the hospital the next day and was readmitted that night due to a staph/bacterial infection that had developed in one of me incisions. I couldnt stand up all the way, couldnt lay flat and it was hard to walk around. They had to reopen one of my closed incisions to clean the infection out. 3 days later they released me with a gaping hole in my tummy that i had to clean numerous times a day, it took over a month to heal and close back up. I now have a horrible scar and that incision is still painfull at times.
This story didnt surprise me one bit, It makes me wonder how many patients get a bacterial/staph infection after surgerys due to surgical equipment that isnt clean all the way.
Sorry about your situation. I know it was difficult for you. However, you should be aware that staph infections take much longer than a few hours to appear. You may have had a wound complication that was contaminated with staph, perhaps from surgery, or perhaps between surgery and your readmission, or even perhaps from before (some of us are carriers of staph). Although it is indeed possible that your infection was a direct result of dirty instruments, in all likelihood there were other factors at work...not pitching blame anywhere...just posing the possibility...
Good lord, what a nightmare. So sorry about what you had to endure. I had a laparoscopic surgery recently, and I was SO scared of one of my several incisions getting infected. Even without infection it was so painful, I can't even imagine what you must've felt and still do! Makes me shudder.
Sure looks like another dismal scru- up by our government and law suits which will inevitably follow.
OK I give up; how is this a govt screw up? LACK of regulation regarding cleaning methods and certification of cleaners is the issue. You guys who think regulation is the problem, not a solution...I wait to see you put your grandchildren on an uninspected airliner. You guys are all hat, no cattle.
Not a government screw up. This is the private healthcare “system”.
There are tremendous financial pressures on hospitals. Reimbursement for procedures is being cut. Insurers engage in wonderful little tricks such as a prolonged pre-approval process, last minute denial and denial of payment that drive up administrative costs.
Personnel is the highest cost for a hospital. In most states the qualifications of professional’s working in the OR (Nurses, Surgical Technologists) are set by law. So the hospital cuts personnel costs in other places. There is also tremendous pressure to turn an OR over and get as many cases done as possible. An empty OR doesn’t generate income.
The devices mentioned in the article are very difficult to clean and sterilize. In some cases in can take up to 24 hours to do so. Of course they are VERY expensive (but the profit or the medical device manufacturers has to come from somewhere) discouraging a hospital from purchasing extras that may sit around not being used. In addition unlike traditional instruments it is much more difficult for the OR staff to tell if they are fully sterilized.
Is what is happening right? Of course not. It is a complex problem and a result of our very bizarre (compared to other developed countries) health care system
Bob. it would be a governmental screw up because they have done nothing, at least in the opinion of the original poster to this thread. Seems you don't need many acres to support the cattle on your ranch.
They did what the law allowed. Guess you kinda ignored the fact the right, like Ron Paul, wants to elminate regulatory agencies completely, like the FDA, the FAA, etc. Just think pretty soon, the GOP will have us flying on uninspected and unmaintained planes. It's the GOP that's fighting regulations. I suggest you plunk down some cash on land. You're gonna need it.
Another weak link in an already broken chain! Wheres the justice!
The sad thing about all these horrow stories is that each and one of these cases could have been prevented. It's almost always a case of human error. There are a myriad of reasons as to why these events occur. But, in always each instance, it is an error in human judgement that causes these problems.
Why hospitals don't do a better job to effectively deal with these issues, is beyond me. I do know this; whenever a decision is made to cut costs, Training & Education are the first departments (or units) eliminated. The key to it all, is properly educating all staff, including physicians.
If you don't believe me, ask anyone who works in a hospital who routinely deals with Risk Management, or Infection Control issues.
P.S. I forgot to add, one of the worst horror stories I ever heard (and it's documented), involved a hospital (I'll not identify) in which the patient had been complaining of abdominal pain, and to the nurses horror when they pulled back the dressing covering the wound, there was an investation of flies, in which eggs had hatched into live maggots. I am not making this up. It's a true story.
You forgot the fact that while it sounds gross, maggots only eat dead flesh. The fly thing puzzles me tho., In a hospital sitting, fly are not a problem. those come when the patient goes home and if the dressing is not tight , some flies craw under and lay eggs. Yes those pesty little maggots are in there,but they don't care for living flesh, just the dead part.Was it a patient who went home, did not change the dressing and came in with pain. Just remember the nurse that had to pick the maggots out and clean the wound and redress it.
Some medical practices use sterile maggots to clean a wound.Just like debriding or putting a kerlex roll of gauze in a wound. While we feel repulsed by maggots and leaches, they do find a use in cleaning the dead skin and blood off our bodies some time.
It does make a good horror story to add to the pile. IT does not stand up to the flesh eating bacteria that some people have come into the hospital with. That I have been intro to and it was cause by some yahoo deciding to go swimming in a pond with a small scratch on his leg. Bad idea , real bad idea. Talk about isolation to prevent spread. You want to keep anything that touches this guy to not be within a mile of anyone with a open wound.
Speaking with some OR tech's I know, who work for the hospital in my town, tell me that 4 of every 10 cases that come out of the OR are infected. I about fell down. Totally blown away.
I have pictures of 2 doctors in the outside smoking area, smoking, with all their OR robes,mask,gloves on smoking. They thought I was nuts taking pictures of them. I find it sickening that a doctor would smoke a cigarette still wearing the rubber gloves he wore in sugery. THATS GROSS!!
It's time the regulating people do their job and start closing OR's that are dirty.
Freedom4All-3056433...do you really think that the doc was "still wearing the rubber gloves he wore in sugery [sic]"? Come on. Is it possible that they could be a different pair of gloves? Probably. Get real.
Growth of regulation is not helpful. Why not do some research yourself to determine how certain "rules" that regulate medicine are created? Most are not based in evidence. Give me a break.
On the contrary, regulation is exactly what we need more of, and supervision and enforcement and expensive retribution when things go wrong. Right now you can't successfully sue a doctor unless he cuts off the wrong t-sticle. This industry is making money hand over fist and cutting corners everywhere the ownership can to keep it that way. Back when medicine was a calling not a business, we had much better outcomes. We need to finance the medical education of prospective doctors so they can be independent and safeguard their patients properly, instead of forcing them to sell themselves to a corporate provider in order to pay off their student loans. To say that some infections are unavoidable is an unacceptable approach to the problem: we start with zero tolerance and work for that and that alone. I live in a city whose top medical officer, Patricia Gabow, instituted such a policy and by golly, it worked! Denver General has earned awards for its top-flight protocols on sterilization, medical personnel's cleanliness, and punch lists for medical procedures. Until you have this in your city, don't get surgery unless they drag you in kicking and screaming. America has over 80,000 deaths a year from hospital-acquired infections, and it's a bloody disgrace to the profession. Universal health insurance is just the beginning.
what corporate provider did I sell myself to? If you talk to him, tell him his check is about a decade late...
haha..those posts always crack me up. It seems that people who never went to medical school ALWAYS think they know the most about med education
joint replacement surgery is particularly prone to these infections as once bacteria gets into the joint area it can grow uncontrollably. It is very important to look at the primary and secondary infection rate of the hospital as well as the doctor performing these surgeries. Not only are they life threatening but the surgery needs to be performed again with antibiotic spacers inserted into the joint. Ask about the hospitals infection rate when looking into these surgeries. This is readily available on online as well
All this "in the basement work" must be overseen by one "responsible" person whose primary job is to guarantee that the proper sterilization methods are strictly followed, using a step-by-step, by the manual approach to do so. Further, any infections that occur under this supervisor's watch should not only lead to his firing but to his arrest as well!! People have to know that their operation is 100% safe from first to last!
I agree, but along with absolute accountability, this person must also have absolute authority to run the sterilization process - no pressure from the surgeons or hospital to get it done faster.
What to get an infection?? Go to a hospital!!!
If you had lived through one of these horrible infections, maybe you would realize that this is not sensationalism, but a very real problem. The main point that struck me about this story is that it seems to indicate that this is a new problem. I got an infection 22 years ago from infected hospital equipment. I was sick for years as they tried to fight the infection. Finally it was my life or a hysterectomy--and no more children. As if that was not bad enough, the medical community bans together to protect one another. Hospitals "lose" records. Doctors will not testify to facts that implicate others. The list goes on and on. The result is the patient loses. There is no recourse. No compensation. That person's life and family are changed forever.
At the VERY least, there should be standards/regulations in place and a watchful eye to make sure that this very preventable issue is eliminated.
I don't know where you folks are getting your info. I am a Nationally and Internationally Certified and Registered Instrument Tech. I had to go to school, complete the course and passed the exam in front of a proctor. I have been working in a major hospital in the Medical Center in Houston for 20 years. I suspect that you all ( MSNBC ) and everyone else must be talking about a much smaller hospital, since they closed it for 2 weeks. ( My hospital has over 30 OR's and could never close down for two weeks ) By the way were are not low paid laborers. We are highly trained sterile processing technicians. Maybe you all might want to re-report this infomation with all of the facts, before you scare the hell out of all our patients.........
How does the hospital, where you work, manage quality control for the reprocessed surgical instruments?
In which state do you live? Surgical technicians in my state (which I realize is a different position than yours, but part of their job is sterilizing surgical equipment) only get paid $11-something/ hour. It's more than minimum wage, but I wouldn't call it well-paid, would you?
MSM23 - at least your employing hospital has its act together - but of course an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It behooves them to use proper sterilization techs. Sounds like they are taking the wise route, even though not required to, like NJ facilities.
Maybe you should know that the "national and international certification" you say you have is not accepted in all states and most countries. I found the same to be true when I was a medic with national certification, moved to a different state and was told, you have to go through school again, even though I had been both a medic and a medic instructor for 18 years. Also national certification is NOT required in most hospitals.
I also had to have abdominal surgery a few years ago and almost died from infection which the hospital tried to blame on me... except I had no visitors and no infection when I came in and the infection was internal at the surgical site. When given the bill for a month long stay which should have been 1 week, I asked if they wanted to reduce it or have me send it to my lawyer. They chose to wave the extra cost.
Mr. Harrison, the patient was in The Methodist Hospital in Houston. No, the whole hospital was not closed down just the Orthopedic area where his and 6 others came down with horrid infections from Utinsels used in Ortho surgery. Hubby had new hip there in 2007 and no problems.....I had heart surgery there in 2009 and no problems...but I am very concerned as this was The Methodist Hopsital in Houston. rated No. One. I hope they have cleaned up their act...SCARY!~! I may postpone my hernia surgery and live with the pain...