Discussion response imani

Imani McLean

Department of Business, Liberty University

BUSI506: Legal and Ethical Issues for Healthcare Professionals

Professor Stephen Alderman

February 19, 2026

In the wrong body part scene, Bright Road Hospital is liable in the case of Mr. Price’s wrong body part being amputated. Wrong-site incidents “are considered a sentinel event, defined by The Joint Commission as “a patient safety event that reaches a patient and results in any of the following: death, permanent harm, or severe temporary harm and intervention required to sustain life” (Ross, 2022). In the case of a wrong-site surgery, the hospital where this happened is responsible for reporting the incident to the Joint Commission due to the severity. To understand the facts of the case, interviews with the Surgeon and the surgical nurse were conducted. During interviews with the surgeon, Dr. Gene West, and the surgical nurse, Bobbi White, it becomes obvious that the wrong body part was amputated due to gross negligence on the provider's part. In the interview with the surgical nurse, Bobbi White, she was distracted during pre-surgery prep by personal issues and did not follow protocol by checking for initials on the body part that she was prepping. This caused her to prep the incorrect leg for surgery, clearly neglecting protocols that she is aware are in place, so that this exact incident does not happen. Next, in the interviews with the surgeon, Dr. Gene West, he blatantly neglects protocol and does not double-check the prepped body part, by blindly signing off on the pre-surgical checklist without verifying if everything is correct with the patient's paperwork. The surgeon rushed the surgery and did not double-check that everything was correct because he heavily relied on his team to have completed prepping correctly.

This scene reminds me of Proverbs 4:25-26 in the New International Version of the bible which states, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways”. This bible verse is saying for believers to focus on a clear vision to avoid distractions or desires that stray their path away from God. Consider your decisions and actions that you take, and make sure that you are secure in where those things take you in life. This relates to this scene as nurse Bobbi was distracted by something that she had no control over, which made her make unconscious decisions that caused harm to someone else. She was not paying attention to what was right in front of her and was not making appropriate decisions for the path that she was on. In addition to nurse Bobbi being led off her path, Dr. West was also led off his path as he took the easy way through the procedure by not verifying his checklist, which caused medical negligence.

From the information that was given from the interviews with the providers in this case, the plaintiff, Mr. Price, can use Res Ipsa Loquitur in his case against the hospital. Res Ipsa Loquitur is a practice in which the plaintiff can shift the burden of proof to the defendant due to the obvious neglect that caused his injury. There are three factors that the plaintiff, Mr. Price, needs to do this, and from the interviews, he will be allowed to use this in his case against the hospital. The first factor is whether this event would not have occurred in the absence of negligence. Negligence occurred from prepping the leg pre- surgery to when the wrong leg was cut in surgery. If negligence had not occurred, the event would not have occurred. “In 2004, the Joint Commission Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure, Wrong Person Surgery was released. The protocol outlined practice recommendations, including preoperative verification, marking of the operative site, and a “time out” prior to surgery” (Hajjaj, Zaslow, Sherif, et al., 2025). The leg was obviously initialed by both the surgeon and patient, and it was obvious gross negligence on the nurses' part for not checking for initials when prepping for surgery. The next factor is whether the defendant (The hospital/the Surgery team) had exclusive control. The surgeon had exclusive control by marking the leg with his initials and using the tool to cut the wrong leg. The tool was working fine, and there were no malfunctions to cause this to happen. The last factor of whether Res Ipsa Loquitur can be used is whether the plaintiff caused his injury. Mr. Price was pre-sedated in the OR waiting room and was asleep when the nurse prepped his leg for surgery and throughout the surgery itself. There is no way for him to aid in the cause of this injury at all. By all three factors showing that this was an obvious cause of negligence on the hospital's part, Mr. Price can use Res Ipsa Loquitur in this case.

My recommendation is that the hospital is liable for the wrong-site surgery of Mr. Price due to the negligence of nurse Bobbi White and Surgeon Dr. Gene West. However, while both employees who committed negligence are employed by the hospital for this incident, the hospital can use indemnification for this liability. Indemnification can be used, as there were procedures in place for both employees to follow, and the procedures were blatantly ignored during Mr. Price's care. There are no recommendations for improvements, as the cause of this wrong-site surgery could have been prevented if the procedure had been followed.

References

Hajjaj, O. I., Zaslow, J., Sherif, R. E., Héroux, D. L., Mimeault, R. E., Fortier, J. H., & Garber, G. E. (2025). Wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and retained foreign object events in out-of-hospital settings: analysis of closed medico-legal complaints in Canada (2012-2021). Patient safety in surgery, 19(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13037-025-00432-4Links to an external site.

New International Version. Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/.Links to an external site.Links to an external site. Accessed 19 February 2026.

Pozgar, G. (2022). Legal Aspects of Healthcare Administration. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Ross, J. (2022). Risks Remain for Wrong-Site Surgeries. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 37(2), 277-279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2022.01.007Links to an external site.

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