- Advertisement -   • Most Commentedmost commented up   • Most
Emailedmost emailed up   • Popularmost popular up -
Advertisement -  « News Home  MEDICAL ERROR 4,000 unclean
surgical mix-ups   Instruments at two hospitals were 'cleaned'
in an oily fluid rather than soap.  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) --
Sometime last year, elevator workers at two hospitals drained
hydraulic fluid into empty soap containers and capped them
without changing the labels.  Not long afterward, medical staff
complained that some of their surgical tools felt slick. But it
was not until January that nearly 4,000 patients learned their
surgeons had unknowingly used instruments washed in the slippery
fluid instead of soap.  Duke assured patients that the mix-up
created little chance of medical problems, but a federal agency
determined that both hospitals -- Durham Regional Hospital and
Duke Health Raleigh Hospital -- had endangered patients.  Since
the problem became public, at least one patient has sued the
elevator company complaining of severe