FOR YOUR HEALTH

Over 260 Patients Have Died After Procedures at Surgery Centers Since 2013

An investigation found that surgery centers lacked emergency supplies and training.

Outpatient surgery centers are taking on “increasingly risky surgeries” and putting patients in danger by skimping on emergency equipment and training, according to an investigation by Kaiser Health News and the USA Today Network. Some centers have also been sending patients home before they're fully healed, and overlooking pre-existing conditions that would require surgeries to be performed at a hospital, the investigation found. In total, 260 people have died since 2013 during or after being operated on in surgery centers—including young children and dozens who went in for routine operations. This comes as surgery centers, which receive $4.1 billion a year from Medicare, have exploded across the country. The investigation found that the promise of “double” the profits may have led doctors running operations to make risky and sometimes fatal medical decisions.