Thursday, May 19, 2005

Medical Mishaps

1. "All that glitters"
   <http://smh.com.au/news/Unusual-Tales/All-that-glitters/2005/05/11/
       1115585031396.html>
"An undercover Florida policeman says he went to hospital for sinus surgery
 that required a shot of painkiller, but instead the syringe was filled with
 make-up glitter"

2. "Fire burnt patient during op"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1324029.html>
"A hospital patient suffered burns to his backside during an operation after
 a cloth soaked with disinfectant caught fire"

3. "Dream holiday turns to nightmare"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1241850.html>
"A German professor who went on a dream holiday to Costa Rica woke up in an
 airport departure lounge to find his leg had been amputated... 'When I got
 to the hospital they put me on a bed and I heard the word amputate. I tried
 to protest, but before I knew it they had given me drugs to black me out,
 and when I woke up I was at the departure lounge'"

4. "Mexican doctor 'amputates wrong foot'"
   <http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=25299>
"A doctor at a Mexican public hospital mistakenly amputated the right leg of
 an elderly patient who had sought treatment for an infection in his left
 foot, the patient's family said today"

5. "Swab in stomach caused pain"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1052145.html>
"A German woman who suffered stomach pains for nearly 20 years, found doctors
 had left a six-inch gauze swab in her stomach after an operation"

6. "Surgical wire left in woman's body"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1111034.html>
"A Belgian woman is to undergo an operation to have surgical wire removed
 from her chest"

7. "Swallowed penny found after eight trips to doctor"
   <http://www.poe-news.com/stories.php?poeurlid=19860>
"On previous visits, doctors diagnosed 15-month-old Erin Spaletta's breathing
 problems and persistent coughing as a respiratory infection and prescribed
 antibiotics"

8. "Doctor missed 45 stab wounds"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1177977.html>
"A doctor called to the death bed of an 87-year-old man failed to notice he
 had been stabbed 45 times"

9. "Dentist pulls 14 teeth in surgery mishap"
   <http://xo.typepad.com/blog/2004/07/img_alt_srchttp_14.html>
"A dentist has 'unreservedly apologised' to a patient for removing 14 teeth
 - instead of just four - in a surgical blunder"

10. "Acupuncture patient left in the dark"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1322971.html>
"A German woman suffered a bad case of pins and needles when staff at an
 acupuncture clinic forgot about her and went home"