California may be the next state to join the ranks, but again as many have questioned, what are the “never” events and how will this be interpreted will be the real key on some issues.  Granted, removing the wrong organ on the wrong patient is pretty much a given, but there are some real areas where this will get very gray.  If the physicians image and hospitals are not paid, and there is nothing to stop legal action as well, will this type of action play a role in the potential of putting some hospitals out of business (as so many are cash strapped as I write today) and the same applies with doctors.  This may lead in to a whole new area of legal battles without some real clarification and could end up being more counter effective instead of an effective role.  Insurers are doing the same.  When the money’s gone and nobody is around to take care of us, what does it all mean?  BD 

SACRAMENTO -- Last October, a technician at the children's hospital at Stanford University improperly connected a ventilator hose, accidentally pumping too little oxygen into a 9-day-old infant's lungs.
A month later, technicians at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz unintentionally placed a CT scan of one patient into the electronic file of another, leading physicians to remove the wrong person’s appendix.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-me-hospitals30-2008jun30,0,7197674,full.story

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