The report uses the case of a 56-year-old woman, Sharon Yacketta who has had to undergo 19 surgeries in the past 4 years – one to correct her original problem of urinary incontinence, and the remaining 18 to correct the horrific errors that resulted from that first surgery.   Since that first botched operation when surgeons at University Hospital managed to rupture her right ureter, Yacketta has battled infections, and watched helplessly as her urinary incontinence ballooned into a vastly more complicated condition.  

In New Jersey, we have seen the number of preventable hospital errors increase steadily over the past three years. Like University Hospital which has faced more than a few medical malpractice lawsuits in the past , we have our own facilities in New Jersey where patients are more likely to return in worse condition than they were in when they arrived. So, the next time people whine about medical malpractice lawyers and malpractice insurance contributing to the skyrocketing healthcare costs in this country, it might be appropriate to point them towards this report.