Investigating wrong site surgeries

PROVIDENCE.R.I. (WPRI) - Ann Marie's father was the victim of a wrong-site surgery several years ago. She agreed to talk to us now because she's outraged that similar mistakes just keep happening.

It was a story she never thought she'd share. In fact, Ann Marie has never spoken publicly about what she says happened to her father.

Ann Marie the daughter of a wrong-site surgery victim said, "They told me there was a complication with the surgery."

In December of 2001, doctors at Rhode Island Hospital operated on the wrong side of Eugenio Dejesus' head. Later, the family discovered his CAT scan was placed backwards on an x-ray viewing box.

 "He had a 'C-cut' behind his ear and once the surgeon went in, realized something was wrong, checked out the x-ray, and then flipped him over, and cut the other side," she said

Eugenio died a few months later. An investigation found the mistaken surgery was not the cause of death. But Ann Marie isn't convinced.

"The stress of two cuts like that in your head has got to do something," she said.

Ann Marie said she'd hoped her father's experience would spark change in Rhode Island's medical community. Rhode Island Hospital reviewed the incident and has made changes since. The Rhode Island Health Department does track and investigate wrong-site surgeries, and can order corrective action.

Still, similar mistakes continue to happen. Target 12 looked into the numbers. The Rhode Island Department of Health confirms there have been five wrong-site surgeries since January 2006.

Massachusetts hospitals, which perform more surgeries than Rhode Island, had 38 during that same time period. We've learned Massachusetts is working to make information about wrong-site surgeries available to the public.

The Massachusetts Department of Health tells Target 12 that in just a few months they will detail for the public the dates, locations, and types of wrong site surgeries.

Our investigation finds that information is not so easy to come by in Rhode Island. The Health Department said state law limits what they can report.

 When asked if there in formation out there that consumers can access that will tell them which is the best hospital in Rhode Island in terms of wrong site surgery, Annmarie Beardsworth from the RI Department of Health said, "Well, the aggregate data does not specify by hospital. Just by matching up stories in the media with those numbers, you know, people can make their own conclusions. But we don’t report it by hospital."

But we can. Checking our news archives, we can tell you we've reported on one wrong-site surgery at the Miriam Hospital, three at Rhode Island Hospital in 2007, and one at Women and Infants in 2006. Rhode Island hospitals are now working together to come up with new protocols to prevent wrong-site surgeries.

Rhode Island Hospital and the Miriam Hospital also released a statement to Eyewitness News regarding wrong site surgeries.

There are also steps you can take to protect your family:

 - Remind the surgical team what operation you are expecting.

- Get the doctor to mark the correct surgical site.

- Ask the doctor to take a time out, to confer with the surgical team and double check all the details before the operation begins.