10 Weird Healthcare Stories of 2009

A gut feeling that something was awry

For the staff at St. Helena Hospital, Clearlake, CA, the routine surgery to remove a lower colon went like clockwork. Unfortunately, a report by the California Department of Public Health determined that staff failed to remove all parts of a stapling instrument used in the procedure. That shortcoming might have gone unnoticed except that, several days later, "Patient 1 had a bowel movement and noticed a clanking noise in the commode. A metallic structure found in the commode was determined to be the upper part of the stapling apparatus. The structure was subsequently forwarded to the manufacturer for evaluation of a possible defect," the report said. At the risk of being accused of picking on California, here's a list of several potentially dangerous things that hospital personnel did in the Golden State.

Holiday spirit eludes coffee-breaking EMTs

Pregnant mother Eutisha Revee Rennix, 25, died after two FDNY EMTs allegedly ignored pleas to help her when she went into cardiac arrest at her job in a Brooklyn bread and bagel shop, where they were taking a break. "They are useless. They are heartless," Cynthia Rennix, Eutisha's mother, told The New York Daily News. Co-workers said they begged two EMTs in the store to help, but they allegedly said, "Call 911" before walking out with their food. The two EMTs were placed on modified duty and are barred from providing patient care. A spokesman for the EMT union said the situation with its resulting accusation was an "odd event."

Stacking Zs in the OR

Plastic surgeon Loren J. Borud, MD, five other doctors, and two nurses at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston were sued after Borud allegedly fell asleep during a liposuction surgery injuring the patient. Borud told concerned colleagues before the surgery that he'd been up all night working on a book. "How common is it that nurses and other personnel don't speak up? I can't think of any [hospital] in the world where this isn't an issue," said Allan Frankel, MD, founder of a patient safety consulting company based in Washington, D.C.

Cost shifting, up close and personal

Jim Bujalski of Denver said he was "surprised" when his bill for one night in the hospital was more than $58,000. Medicare and supplemental insurance covered most of the costs, but there was still a bill of $730 for "self-administered drugs" that Bujalski takes regularly at home. St. Anthony's Central Hospital charged him about $497 for two tablets of Plavix, a drug Buljalski he usually buys for $8. A Crestor tablet cost $65 in the hospital, at home he pays about $3 for it. The charges represent about a 3,500% mark-up. "I thought there's got to be some mistake here," Buljalski told a local TV station. St. Anthony's reportedly offered Buljalski a 40% discount that brought his bill down to $438. "I don't understand how they can come anywhere close to justifying that," Buljalski told the TV station.

Security officer hijacks healthcare building's HVAC

The FBI arrested a Dallas man in July who allegedly hacked into a healthcare building's IT system and was prepared to take over the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system. The suspect, who worked as an overnight security officer for the site, allegedly had bigger plans of using the compromised computers to instigate a massive attack on other computers elsewhere. Police say Jesse William McGraw, who allegedly used the online aliases "GhostExodus" and "PhantomExodizzmo," is allegedly part of a hacker group called the Electronik Tribulation Army.

Hacker holds hostage Social Security numbers, demands $10M

Virginia officials last spring warned more than a half-million people whose Social Security numbers may have been contained in the Prescription Monitoring Program database that was hacked into by a criminal demanding a $10 million ransom. The hacker left a ransom note in April at the Web site that read: "I have your [stuff]! In *my* possession, right now, are 8,257,378 patient records and a total of 35,548,087 prescriptions. Also, I made an encrypted backup and deleted the original. Unfortunately for Virginia, their backups seem to have gone missing, too. Uhoh :( For $10 million, I will gladly send along the password."