Deficiencies in Facility Leaders' Response to Critical Surgical Events at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas.
Washington, DC: The Veterans Affairs Inspector General. October 4, 2023. Report No. 23-00080-227.
Wrong-site surgery and unintentionally retained surgical items are considered never events. This report details five wrong-site surgeries and three instances of retained surgical items at one VA medical center between 2018 and 2022. The findings suggest that timely investigation into events from 2018-2021 may have prevented three incidents in 2022. Additionally, the medical center failed to fully report the provider responsible for three of the wrong-site surgeries.