What is a medical error? Here's a list of 28 things that should never happen in a hospital

This list of 28 errors that should never happen is part of an article on MSNBC: More states shred bills for awful medical errors. The list is created by the National Quality Forum, a nonprofit health care safety agency, it includes:

1. Surgery on the wrong body part.
2. Surgery on the wrong patient.
3. Wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient.
4. Object left in patient after surgery.
5. Death of patient who had been generally healthy during or immediately after surgery for a localized problem.
6. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices or biologics.
7. Patient death or serious disability associated with the misuse or malfunction of a device.
8. Patient death or serious disability associated with intravascular air embolism.
9. Infant discharged to wrong person.
10. Patient death or serious disability associated with patient disappearing for more than four hours.
11. Patient suicide or attempted suicide resulting in serious disability.
12. Patient death or serious disability associated with a medication error.
13. Patient death or serious disability associated with transfusion of blood or blood product of the wrong type.
14. Maternal death or serious disability associated with labor or delivery in a low-risk pregnancy.
15. Patient death or serious disability associated with the onset of hypoglycemia, a drop in blood sugar.
16. Death or serious disability associated with failure to identify and treat hyperbilirubinemia, a blood abnormality, in newborns.
17. Severe pressure ulcers acquired in the hospital.
18. Patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy.
19. Patient death or serious disability associated with an electric shock.
20. Any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other gas to be delivered to a patient contains the wrong gas or is contaminated by toxic substances.
21. Patient death or serious disability associated with a burn in the hospital.
22. Patient death associated with a fall suffered in the hospital.
23. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of restraints or bedrails.
24. Any instance of care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist or other licensed healthcare provider.
25. Abduction of a patient.
26. Sexual assault on a patient.
27. Death or significant injury of a patient or staff member resulting from a physical assault in the hospital.
28. Artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm or donor egg.

Currently, according to the report, hospitals in 23 states don't charge patients for these errors. Gee, that's nice of them, huh?

See full article here, which includes a nice interactive graphic to view medical error billing policies/laws by state.

State Roundup: Medical Malpractice Laws

Louisiana: The Louisiana House rejected legislation that would have expanded coverage under the state's medical malpractice laws, reports the Baton Rouge Advocate. At issue was language that included in the definition of malpractice, "problems that occur when transporting or monitoring patients as well as failure to attend to patients' personal hygiene," according to the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report — source for this article. Opponents said such legislation would allow overburden the system with nursing home negligence as medical malpractice.

Tennessee: The Tennessee state Senate approved legislation to make frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits more difficult to file, the Tennessean reports. The bill now moves to Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) to be signed into law. The legislation would require attorneys to have a qualified medical expert sign off on the merits of any malpractice case within 90 days of filing suit.

Oregon: The Insurance Journal reports that the Oregon Supreme Court has upheld a five-year statute of limitations on medical malpractice lawsuits involving minors.

Insurance Department Issues Second Annual Ohio Medical Liability Closed Claim Report

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Insurance has issued its second annual Ohio Medical Liability Closed Claim Report, shows a total of 4,004 medical malpractice claims were closed in 2006. The average paid per claim was $288,080.

Some key findings in the report include:

• Total Claims: 4,006 claims reported for 2006 by 93 entities.
• Indemnity Payments: Almost 80 percent of medical malpractice claims resulted in no payment to a claimant. A total of 3,210 claims had no indemnity payments while 794, or 20 percent, closed with an indemnity payment.
• Claim Expenses: While most medical malpractice claims closed with no payments to claimants, almost all claims generated expenses for investigation and defense. These expenses totaled $88,131,139, an average of $25,672 per claim.

For more information on medical malpractice claims paid by state, see statehealthfacts.com.