North County Hospitals Fined for Medical Mistakes

Tri-City Medical Center and Pomerado Hospital have been fined by the California Department of Public Health for medical mistakes that caused patient injury within the last year. A fine of $50,000 was assessed against each entity.

At Tri-City, a patient was seriously burned when a cauterization machine ignited oxygen in a breathing mask and causing a fire. According to reports, the man was hospitalized for breathing difficulties, and then underwent a procedure to insert a tracheotomy when the fire-incident occurred.

The Pomerado Hospital incident involved a psychiatric patient who suffered brain damage when he tipped over backwards in a reclining chair, and struck his head on the floor. The man was apparently noted to be a very high fall risk, but, according to the State, the hospital failed to take adequate precautions to prevent the incident.

Both hospitals told the North County Times that they will appeal the fines.

Source: North County Times

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