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Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Swedish Medical Center sued for setting patient's head on fire
A 54-year-old cancer patient sued Swedish Medical Center on Friday for allegedly setting her face and head on fire during biopsy surgery.
Jackie Day of Poulsbo awoke from anesthesia during the May 2004 operation to discover her head ablaze, said her attorney, Jane Morrow.
Since the procedure at Swedish's First Hill campus, Day has suffered from discoloration around her eyes; her eyebrows never grew back; and she is "petrified" to go back into an operating room, Morrow said.
Swedish acknowledged in a written statement Tuesday that Day had suffered burns to the back of her neck and scalp, adding that they were "perhaps due to the inadvertent ignition of an alcohol-based hair-styling product. The burn was treated immediately and appropriately."
Swedish also said it investigated the incident, apologized to Day in writing, and "expanded its presurgery procedures to include screening for hair-care products."
Morrow doesn't buy Swedish's assertion that a hair product might be to blame. She says an expert she hired thinks the fire was ignited by a cauterizing device. "The fire may have spread to her hair product, but that wasn't what caused it."
"She has a very serious medical condition that is going to require her to have repeated procedures," including biopsies, Morrow said. "This has been devastating for her."
The lawsuit seeks undisclosed damages and accuses Swedish of failing to properly train and supervise staff in fire prevention and safety protocols.
Fire during surgery "is a known potential complication if the proper safety programs aren't instituted and followed," Morrow said. "Operating room fires are almost completely preventable. That's why having a strong program for prevention is important."
But Swedish says the incident was "highly unusual."
"No caregiver at Swedish had ever experienced anything like this before," according to the statement.
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