Correction: Hospital Fined For Wrong-Sided Brain Surgery

November 27, 2007 2:30 p.m. EST

Providence, R.I. (AHN) - A hospital in Rhode Island was fined $50,000 after a doctor mistakenly operated on the wrong side of a patient's head. This sums up to three incidents of the same nature for the hospital.

The latest brain operation mistake involved the hospital chief resident operating on the wrong side of the head of an 82-year old patient. The Providence Business News reported that as bedside procedures were being performed, "prior to entering the skull, it was determined that the procedure was being performed on the wrong side and it was immediately stopped."

The wound was closed with only one stitch, after which the doctors proceeded to operate on the correct side, producing good results.

The hospital has also had a similar mishap last February, when neurosurgery was performed on the wrong side of a patient's head, as said by the health department spokeswoman Andrea Bagnall-Degos. The patient also emerged without harm.

However, another mishap in August led to the death of a patient, leading to a state-ordered review of the hospital's neurosurgery practices.

"We are extremely concerned about this continuing pattern," said state health director Dr. David R. Gifford. "We have not seen an adequate response in the hospital's system and protocols since the last compliance order was issued. While the hospital has made improvements in the operating room, they hae not extended these changes to the rest of the hospital."

The Rhode Island Hospital issued a statement on the matter.

"We are committed to continuing to evaluate and implement changes to our policies to help ensure these human errors are caught before they reach the patient," read the statement.

Investigations are also being done by the Board of Medical Licensure and Disipline and Board of Nursing.