Jacksonville Fatigued Medical Resident Error Attorneys
Fatigued Medical Resident Error
Most people go to work, work about eight or 10 hours at most, then come home and enjoy the family, take it easy, read, watch television and go to bed and begin again the next morning. That is not the way it is for a medical resident, or doctor-in-training. A first-year medical resident can easily work a shift that lasts anywhere from 24 to 30 hours.
In a March 2011 study, 39% of residents admitted they had made a medical error at work due to fatigue. In addition there were certain quality of life issues that accompany fatigue such as depression and burnout, which can all lead to a risk of medical errors.
A Harvard Work Hours, Health, and Safety Group study reported one in five residents say they have made a medical mistake due to fatigue.
The problem is so acute that in July 2011, the accrediting group for graduate students, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, began limiting the hours a first-year resident can work from 24 to16 hours while a second-year resident can work up to 24 hours per shift. The Mayo Clinic will see whether or not the shift change affects medical errors, patient interaction, continuity of care and a medical resident's education.
There has been a great deal of attention directed at minimizing medical errors. Estimates are about 98,000 patients die every year from preventable medical malpractice and a good deal of the problem occurs when a fatigued professional makes a life or death decision. The advocacy group, Public Citizen established Mothers Against Medical Error with the help of Helen Haskell, whose 15-year-old son died when a medical resident failed to realize he was in medical distress following elective surgery. His doctor was a first-year medical resident who had been working more than 30 hours when the teenager died.
The group has formed a Web site www.WakeUpDoctor.org where people can share stories of tired doctors and medical errors.
Public Citizen has also petitioned the federal agency that oversees workplace and worker safety, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), to see if OSHA would take over the regulation of medical residents' work hours. OSHA is reported to be considering the petition.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in a report also suggests residents have more supervision and their shifts be reduced from 30 hours and 100 hour work weeks to 16 hour shifts and 80 hour work weeks or even fewer. The IOM found 26% fewer medical errors were made during the shortened shifts, and residents were likely to absorb more of what they observed because they weren't sleep deprived.
Many debate the cost of Florida medical malpractice lawsuits. Nationwide, the IOM estimates that adding doctors to oversee fewer hours will add about $1.7 billion per year, but what is the cost of a life? With nearly 100,000 patients dying every year from preventable medical errors every year, how many of those errors were made by stressed and fatigued professionals?
Think about it. Does a pilot work 30 hours? Ask patients and most would not like a life-altering decision to be made by someone at the end of a 30-hour shift.
If you suspect negligence by a fatigued resident while receiving treatment at a medical facility, contact the law office of Farah & Farah today. Our Jacksonville fatigued medical resident error lawyers will protect your legal rights and discuss options in pursuing a medical malpractice claim.