Do No Harm: Part Three

Patients at risk under the knife

Dr. Victor Grigoriev had good news for Georganne Mumm’s worried family when he emerged from the operating room. The surgery was a success, Mumm says he told her family. He had removed her cancerous kidney and her outlook was good.

Routine surgery, harrowing result

Amanda Cicatello appears in some ways to be a typical teenager. Her bedroom is whimsically decorated with a zebra-striped bedspread and a stuffed panda. She works at a trendy clothing ...

A cry for help

Among Carol Ann Doyle’s last words was an anguished cry that “something was backwards” inside her. Dr. Gregg Ripplinger had warned Doyle that she would be in some pain after ...

Last drumroll

Mickey O’Neill, a 61-year-old drummer in a local Irish band, had outpatient laparoscopic surgery to remove his gall bladder June 2.

How the Sun identified surgical injuries

Every surgery results in an operative report, in which the surgeon notes each step of the procedure, including any inadvertent nicks, cuts or complications.

Colorado transparency unique

Michael Skolnik was having seizures. His doctor was pressing for brain surgery.

Nevada hospitals rarely sanction physicians

Nevada may have more surgical mishaps than should be expected, based on national benchmarks, but it’s almost unheard of for hospitals to sanction a physician. Doctors’ privileges were revoked or ...

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Interactive Features

Documents

See the source material behind the stories: legal filings, academic research, minutes from legislative hearings and internal e-mails.

See the results

Explore the data on surgical injuries through an interactive graphic.

Videos

  • Amanda Cicatello

    When Amanda Cicatello was 15, a surgeon accidentally punctured her aorta with a surgical instrument during an operation to remove her appendix. She nearly bled out and died on the operating table.

  • Maria Hoshal

    On Nov. 6, 2006, Maria Hoshal's mother, Carol Ann Doyle, had her gall bladder removed at a local hospital. Doyle died eight days later from sepsis.

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