County hospitals reporting fewer medical errors

(February 9, 2010)

Data from the California Department of Public Health shows hospitals in Ventura County are reporting a decrease in adverse medical errors -- "never events" ranging from surgery on the wrong body part to bed sores so deep bone is damaged. Across the state, the number of such reports made by hospitals jumped by 26 percent in the fiscal year ending last June. Reports ranged from the 16 cases of the wrong surgical procedure being performed to one abduction of a patient.