List of Serious Reportable Events for 2015 in Massachusetts

Massachusetts has earned a reputation for being one of the best places to receive medical care and is home to some of the world’s top hospitals including Massachusetts General Hospital, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital to name a few. However, this does not mean that medical mistakes and medical negligence do not occur. In fact, as demonstrated below, Massachusetts has more than its fair share of serious medical mistakes including a number of what are called “Never Events.” These Serious Reportable Events (or SREs) are considered as some of the most egregious medical mistakes that are of serious concern in the medical community. There are 29 such events that are included each year in a report published by the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services. Through Massachusetts general law c. 305 of the Acts of 2008, hospitals and surgery centers are required to report SREs to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH).

While the number of SRE’s rose sharply in 2015 (up from 89 SREs in 2013 and 82 SRE’s in 2014), this increase is largely due to the highly publicized case of contaminated drugs and devices at a medical center in Springfield, where patients were exposed to infection due to unsanitary conditions in a patient dialysis unit.

Topping the list of Serious Reportable Errors in 2015 includes:

• Falls
• Pressure Ulcers
• Medication Errors
• Burn injuries
• Foreign objects left in patient after procedure

The full list of SRE’s is listed below:

Surgery Events

1. Wrong body part, side or site surgery of procedure = 26
2. Wrong patient surgery or procedure = 2
3. Wrong surgery or procedure performed = 12
4. Foreign object left in patient after procedure unknowingly = 36
5. Death of ASA Class I patient during surgery or within 24 hours = 0

Product Events

6. Contaminated drugs, device or biologics = 448
7. Device misuse or malfunction = 12
8. Intravascular air embolism = 2

Patient Protection

9. Patient discharged to unauthorized person = 0
10. Serious injury or death during patient disappearance = 2
11. Suicide or self-harm = 31

Care Management Events

12. Serious injury or death from medication error = 54
13. Unsafe blood transfusion = 0
14. Maternal serious injury or death associated with labor or delivery = 10
15. Newborn serious injury or death associated with delivery = 15
16. Serious injury or death after a fall = 309
17. Stage 3, Stage 4 or unstageable pressure ulcer = 228
18. Artificial insemination with wrong egg or sperm = 0
19. Serious injury or death from loss of irreplaceable biological specimen = 1
20. Serious injury or death from lack of follow up or communication of lab result = 3

Environmental Events

21. Serious injury or death from electric shock = 0
22. Oxygen or gas delivery error = 0
23. Serious injury or death from burn = 30
24. Serious injury or death from physical restraints = 1

Radiology

25. Serious injury or death from metallic object in MRI = 2

Potential Criminal Events

26. Impersonation of a health care provider = 0
27. Abduction of patient = 0
28. Sexual abuse or assault of patient or staff member = 9
29. Serious injury or death after physical assault of patient or staff = 21

Hiring a Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Attorney

Medical negligence can take many forms and may include:

• Failures to diagnose
• Delays in diagnosing medical conditions
• Adverse drug reactions or drug interactions
• Surgical mistakes
• Misdiagnosis
• Anesthesia errors
• Delays in treating

The medical malpractice lawyers at Curran Law Group, P.C. in Weymouth represent victims of medical negligence from all over the Commonwealth of Massachusetts including clients in Boston, Weymouth, Quincy, Braintree, Norwood, Canton, Dedham, Natick, Needham, Brookline, Dorchester, Milton, Roslindale, Hyde Park, Brockton, Randolph, Avon, Taunton, Middleboro, Bridgewater, Hanson, Whitman, Plymouth, Cape Cod, Kingston, Pembroke, Hanover, Scituate, Hingham, Cohasset, Hull, Rockland and else ware. We will immediately begin investigating the circumstances of your case and will take immediate steps to gather all medical documents and records in order to fully analyze and identify any possible errors or deviations from the standard of care. We will then retain and secure the opinions of any experts we need to prove negligence and will aggressively pursue your claim against any and all responsible parties.

The consultation is always FREE and we do not get paid unless we are successful in recovering compensation on your behalf either through settlement, mediation, arbitration or trial. CALL TODAY 781-331-3811.