Many writers are pretty good editors, so they really don’t need anyone else to edit their work, right? Wrong! Most writers realize that they need that second set of eyes. No matter how gifted the writer, it’s often hard to see one’s own errors—you see what you meant to say.
It stands to reason that in the medical profession—where a mistake can cause discomfort, injury, or even death—double checking for accuracy should be the norm—but this isn’t necessarily the case. According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, about 100,000 deaths annually happen because of medical errors.
Dr. Gupta says that in teaching hospitals, weekly meetings are held to discuss errors that have been made by staff. The purpose of these meetings is, of course, for the doctors to learn from their own and others’ mistakes. Here is one of the errors made by a colleague of Dr. Gupta:
A young man had fallen and was bleeding inside his skull. A CAT scan had been taken, and the film was hung backwards in the operating room. After looking at the image, a highly talented neurosurgeon began operating. The surgical team drilled holes in the man’s skull and removed part of it before the surgeon realized that they were opening the wrong side of the skull. Luckily, the man survived.
Everyone makes mistakes, and doctors are no exception. If someone you love has died or suffered brain injury because of an error made by a medical professional, you need the services of a top-notch Louisville medical malpractice attorney. Call Gray and White Law at 502-210-8942 or toll-free at 888-450-4456 to set up a FREE, no-obligation consultation.