Calif. hospitals fined for medical errors

SACRAMENTO, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Twelve California hospitals were fined $25,000 to $75,000 each, for medical errors that caused, or were likely to cause, injury or death, state officials say.

For example, officials with California's Department of Public Health say Southwest Healthcare System in Murrieta, Calif., was fined $25,000 for leaving a surgical instrument -- a metal device roughly 10 inches long and 2 inches wide used to hold tissue during surgery -- inside a woman who has a baby in 2008.

After the patient complained of pain, the women had exploratory surgery during which the instrument was found, officials say. Among the reasons for the mistake may have been that the two doctors working together during the surgery were not familiar with each other, a report says.

This same facility has been fined by the state seven times, California health officials say.

Among the other facilities fined for failing to ensure the health and safety of a patient by not following its own surgical policies and procedures were: California Pacific Medical Center, Pacific Campus Hospital, San Francisco, was fined $50,000 and $75,000 for two different patients; Citrus Valley Medical Center in Covina, Calif., was fined $25,000 and $50,000 for two different patients; and the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, was fined $25,000 twice for two different patients.