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Improperly assembled halogen lights in three different operating rooms at Oregon’s Silverton Hospital are to blame for skin burns suffered by as many as 10 patients. During a five-month investigation into the unexplained injuries, the hospital discovered that staff had replaced the diffuser on the halogen bulbs but mistakenly left the filters off. Without the filters, the UV rays emitted by the halogen lights caused burns ranging from mild to serious in several cases.
In a recent press statement to Outpatient Surgery Magazine, Dr. Joseph Huang, Silverton Hospital’s chief medical officer, said, "For all of us working in health care, we're in it to help people get better, so it's difficult for us when safety of patients [is] compromised in any way. It's our responsibility to our patients and the communities that we serve that we respond in a transparent and accountable way."
The hospital has since replaced the older halogen technology with newer LED bulbs that do not emit the same skin-burning heat. They have also implemented new policies that require staff to inform the hospital’s engineering department prior to doing any maintenance to medical equipment.
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