Deadly Errors
| Deadly Errors | |
| Allen Wyler | |
| Forge Books (2004) | |
| Rating: | ★★★☆☆ |
| Tags: | Mystery, Thriller, Deadly Errors |
A comatose man is given a fatal dose of insulin in the emergency room, even though he isn't diabetic. An ulcer patient dies of shock after receiving a transfusion of the wrong blood type. A recovering heart patient receives a double dose of medication and suffers a fatal heart attack.Brain surgeon Dr. Tyler Matthews suspects that something is seriously wrong with the hospital’s new “Med-InDx” computerized medical record system. But he doesn’t suspect that there’s something murderously wrong with it.As Matthews begins to peel back the layers of deception that cover the deadly errors, he crosses powerful corporate interests who aren’t about to let their multi-billion dollar medical record profits evaporate. Now a target, Matthews finds himself trapped in a maze of deadly conspiracy, with his career, his marriage, and his very life on the line.Once again, Wyler blends his unparalleled expertise as a world class surgeon with his uncanny knack for suspense to create a true “best-of-breed” medical thriller. Deadly Errors is a lightning-quick action procedural that is destined to win new fans to the medical thriller genre.
"A thriller that only a doctor could have written. Wyler's sense of the worlds of the hospital and operating room are unsurpassed. You'll feel as if you are right there."---Michael Palmer,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Miracle Cure
"
Deadly Errors
has a fascinating and frightening premise that gives it the potential to be a bestseller in the Robin Cook mold."---William Dietrich, author of
Hadrian's Wall
"
Deadly Errors
is a wild and satisfying ride! An up-all-night pass into troubled places that only hardworking doctors know about, a turbulent world of trusting patients and imperfect humans struggling with the required image of perfection. Only a gifted surgeon could craft such a wild and wonderful medical thriller!"---John J. Nance,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Pandora's Clock
"Just when you thought it was safe to go back and have your tonsils removed, Dr. Allen Wyler writes a fast-paced thriller that reawakens your scariest misgivings about the Medical-Industrial Complex and the profit motive corrupting the art of healing. This is a story told with authority by an insider, an unsettling backstage tour through the labyrinth of that place we have come to both fear and revere---the American hospital."---Darryl Ponicsan, author of
The Last Detail
"
Deadly Errors
will curl your toes and make you afraid to enter the hospital for even a minor procedure. No one can write operating room scenes like Allen Wyler. You couldn't get any closer to the action if you scrubbed in and held a retractor."---Don Donaldson, author of
Do No Harm
and
In the Blood
"Wyler's sense of the worlds of the hospital and operating room are unsurpassed. You'll feel as if you are right there." Michael Palmer, author of The Society
"Deadly Errors is a wild and satisfying ride! This is an ‘up all night’ pass into troubled places that only hard-working doctors know about, a turbulent world of trusting patients and imperfect humans struggling with the required image of perfection. Only a gifted surgeon like Allen Wyler could craft such a wild and wonderful best-of-the-breed medical thriller!" John J. Nance, author of Pandora’s Clock and Fire Flight
Praise for Allen Wyler’s Thrillers
“
DEAD END DEAL
is a medical thriller of the highest order, reviving the genre with a splendid mixture of innovation and cutting-edge timeliness. Neurosurgeon Allen Wyler knows of what he writes, and the result is a thriller that equals and updates the best of Robin Cook and Michael Crichton. His latest is terrifying, riveting, and a masterpiece of science and suspense.”
—Jon Land, best-selling author of
STRONG AT THE BREAK
“
DEAD END DEAL
by Allen Wyler is a masterful medical thriller, intelligent, ferociously paced, scary as hell, ripping with suspense, and filled with fascinating (and horrific) details that only a neurosurgeon-turned-writer like Wyler could provide. If you like the medical thrillers of Robin Cook or Michael Crichton, you will absolutely love
DEAD END DEAL
.”
—Douglas Preston, author of
THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE
and co-creator of the
PENDERGAST NOVELS
“The gritty, graphic details of cutting-edge surgical procedures, capped with an exciting conclusion, should keep fans of the genre riveted.”
—Publishers Weekly
“With its lightning-paced excitement and fascinating science,
DEAD HEAD
has everything you could hope for in a medical thriller!”
—Tess Gerritsen, author of
THE MEPHISTO CLUB
“In the tradition of Robin Cook, Wyler takes us behind the scenes to show us things the medical establishment doesn’t want us to see.
DEAD RINGER
builds a high-speed plot on a startling but all-too-plausible premise. This is the stuff nightmares are made of.”
—Joseph Finder,
New York Times
Bestselling Author of
PARANOIA
and
BURIED SECRETS
“The suspense builds and builds in this riveting page-turner. It’s a skillful merging of the medical thriller and political thriller … Tom Clancy meets Tess Gerritsen!”
—Kevin O’Brien,
New York Times
Bestselling Author of
THE LAST VICTIM
and
KILLING SPREE
“You’ll be asking the nurse to swab your forehead when you’re admitted into this tense medical thriller exposing
DEADLY ERRORS
. Wyler does for hospitals what Benchley did for the ocean.”
—Joe Moore, co-author of the international best seller
THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY
“Wyler writes a fast-paced thriller, which reawakens your scariest misgivings about the Medical-Industrial Complex and the profit motive corrupting the art of healing.”
—Darryl Ponicsan, author of
THE LAST DETAIL
“
DEADLY ERRORS
has a fascinating and frightening premise that gives it the potential to be a best seller in the Robin Cook mold.”
—William Dietrich, author of
HADRIAN’S WALL
“This is an ‘up all night’ pass into troubled places that only hardworking doctors know about; a turbulent world of trusting patients and imperfect humans struggling with the required image of perfection. Only a gifted surgeon like Allen Wyler could craft such a wild and wonderful best-of-the-breed medical thriller!”
—John J. Nance, author of
PANDORA’S CLOCK
and
FIRE FLIGHT
“Wyler’s debut novel is both an engrossing thriller and a cautionary tale of the all-too-frequent intersection of high technology and higher greed. It’s a message all of us better pay attention to, or face the consequences.”
—Mark Olshaker, author of
EINSTEIN’S BRAIN, UNNATURAL CAUSES,
and
THE EDGE;
co-author of
MINDHUNTER, JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
DEAD ERRORS
Astor + Blue Editions LLC
Copyright © 2012 by Allen Wyler
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof, in any form under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by:
Astor + Blue Editions, LLC
New York, NY 10003
Originally Published by Tor/Forge Books 2001
Publisher’s Cataloging-In-Publication Data
Wyler, Allen. DEADLY ERRORS—ebook edition.
ISBN: 978-1-938231-20-9 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-938231-18-6 (epub)
ISBN: 978-1-938231-19-3 (epdf)
1. Neurosurgeon Doctor—Thriller—Fiction 2. Electronic Medical Errors—Fiction 3. Corporate Greed and Corruption—Fiction 4. Fraudulent use of Medical Records—Fiction 5. Dangerous Medical Operations—Fiction 6. Seattle (Wash)—Fiction 7. American Thriller story I. Title
Book Design: Bookmasters
Jacket Cover Design: Ervin Serrano
ONTENTS
ROLOG
Maynard Medical Center Reduces Medical Errors
By WILLIAM BARR
Seattle Times
staff reporter
Seattle
—In a statement issued today, Maynard Medical Center CEO Arthur Benson reported a twenty-fold decrease in medical errors since becoming a beta test site for the highly-touted Med-InDx electronic medical record (EMR). This makes it by far the safest West Coast hospital according to Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the accrediting organization for hospitals. “This is a remarkable improvement in patient safety,” said Sergio Vericelli, chairman of the JCAHO committee charged with selecting a benchmark EMR within the next year.
Vericelli added, “In November 1999, the Institute of Medicine concluded a study entitled ‘To Err Is Human: Building A Safer Health System.’ It focused attention on the issue of medical errors and patient safety by reporting that as many as 44,000 to 98,000 people die in hospitals each year from preventable medical errors. This makes preventable medical errors this country’s eighth leading cause of death—higher than motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. About 7,000 people per year are estimated to die from medication errors alone.”
In support of its mission to improve the quality of health care provided to the public, JCAHO reviews a hospital’s response to sentinel events in its accreditation process. A “sentinel event” is an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological injury. Such events are called “sentinel” because they signal the need for immediate investigation and response.