RI Hospital Fined for Leaving Drill Bit in Patient's Skull

Published November 20, 2014

Rhode Island officials have ordered the state's largest hospital to pay a $300,000 fine, the largest in state history, after operating room staff left a broken drill bit in a patient's skull during brain surgery.

State health officials on Tuesday said Rhode Island Hospital did not follow its own policy, which requires staff to do an X-ray of a patient if a surgical tool or device is missing at the end of a surgery.

Health department spokeswoman Annemarie Beardsworth says the hospital has also admitted a separate error from a July procedure in which a pair of forceps was left in a patient's abdomen.

Rhode Island Hospital CEO Timothy Babineau said in a statement that the mistakes are unacceptable and that the hospital is working to prevent similar errors in the future.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/health/ri-hospital-fined-for-leaving-drill-bit-in-patients-skull