Personal Injury Law

LONG ISLAND?S MERCY HOSPITAL UNDER SCRUTINY AGAIN AFTER THE DEATHS OF SEVERAL PATIENTS

According to the New York Times, The New York State Department of Health is again investigating Mercy Medical Center. Investigations of Mercy began last year when a woman had a double mastectomy immediately after receiving the news that she had breast cancer. The next day the woman died from complications of her surgery. Unfortunately, according to the State Department of Health, the 30 year-old woman never had cancer. Mercy Hospital?s lab had mixed up the woman?s test results with another woman?s results. Mercy Hospital, through its spokesperson, refused to release the woman?s name. In October of last year the Health Department concluded the investigation in that death by indicating that Mercy had taken proper ?corrective action? after the medical malpractice lab mix-up.

Now, the Health Department is investigating Mercy for the deaths of three other patients, and according to the Times this investigation was instigated by one of Mercy?s own doctors. Dr. Anthony Colantonio reported, according to the Times, that a physician?s assistant caused the deaths of three people: a 65 year-old man; a 64 year-old woman; and, a 19 year-old woman when catheters, chest tubes and pacemakers were improperly inserted into those patients.

Claudia Hutton, a spokesperson for the New York Health Department, indicated that the investigation is ongoing and she said it was unclear when the investigation would conclude. The Times further reports that a 1999 review by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences showed that medical errors were responsible for the wrongful deaths of between 44,000 and 98,000 people a year in the United States.

Full post as published by New York Injury Talk Blog on February 01, 2008 (boomark / email).