Orange County — Two Orange County hospitals were among 14 fined in the latest round of penalties for life-threatening medical errors. St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton was fined $75,000 because a nurse administered an overdose of morphine to a patient who died as a result. Mission hospital in Mission Viejo was fined $100,000 when a metal screw cap was left in her body after surgery and the patient had to undergo another surgery to remove it. Since 2007 the state has collected over $5 million dollars in fines that are supposed to be used for hospital quality and safety. Both St. Jude and Mission hospitals have been fined for previous medical errors. St. Jude has been penalized three times and Mission four times. Both hospitals are part of the St. Joseph Health System. The state has seen a decline by 12 percent in medical errors since it started the program. The top two medical errors are medication errors and leaving behind a “foreign object” during surgery. These medical errors not only make the hospitals liable for state penalties, they also leave the hospital open to lawsuits. Find a medical malpractice lawyer at ilawyersource.com.
