Here are two articles from the American Association for Justice news brief that will give us another concern about undergoing surgery. There seems to be no end to the things that can go wrong.
The Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News reports that the Food and Drug Administration “held a little-noticed workshop to address concerns” over dirty surgical instruments. A risk management clinical engineer at the University of Michigan Health System “presented the most ominous data and conclusions to the crowd of around 200 government and industry insiders.” He “described how his team ran a tiny surgical video camera inside 350 surgery-ready suction tips (a common tool surgeons use to suction blood and fluids).” All of them “contained blood, bone, tissue, even rust.” Even after running the suction tips through manufacturer-recommended cleaning and disinfection procedures, he reported, due to a design flaw, all but seven of the tips contained debris.
In continuing coverage, NBC Nightly News reported, “NBC News partnered with the Center for Public Integrity to look at what some have called a growing problem in this country, dirty surgical instruments sometimes making their way into surgeons’ hands and thus, patients’ bodies.” NBC Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman said that “in every state, except New Jersey, there are no requirements that workers who sterilize instruments have any kind of training or certification.” Moreover, Snyderman added, “If a dirty medical device finds its way into the operating room the FDA does not require hospitals to report it.”
