Medical errors persist in MA despite increased scrutiny

Preventable medical errors reported by full-service hospitals in Massachusetts grew 60 percent last year, a rise partly attributed to problems detected in a single hospital's dialysis unit. Hospitals disclosed 1,313 errors that harmed or threatened patients in 2015, including 26 cases when the wrong surgery or procedure was done on a patient; 51 instances when a medication error seriously injured or killed a patient; and 446 cases of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics.