In 1947, a postmortem on Mrs Evelyn Tugwell found that she had died of
peritonitis, which had set in after an operation to remove a tumour. It also
found that the 12-inch-square surgical pack left inside her body by the surgeon
might have encouraged the infection which led to her death. Fans of real-life
hospital horror stories should read The World’s Worst Medical Mistakes by Martin
and Karen Fido (Sevenoaks, £7.99, ISBN 1 86200 001 8): there is much, much
more where this came from.
More from Â鶹´«Ã½
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending Â鶹´«Ã½ articles
1
We've found a mysterious substance on Titan and Pluto
2
Has the answer to life's origins been hiding in our cells all along?
3
Most portable air conditioners suck – but there's an easy fix
4
Remarkable fossils rewrite the story of how animals conquered the land
5
Almost the whole of Japan moved eastward after 2011 earthquake
6
The secrets to keeping your brain sharp in old age
7
Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World is still supremely relevant today
8
The social media ban is an experiment – here’s how it will be studied
9
The last-ditch plan to save coral reefs from utter destruction
10
A quantum state that lasts forever may finally be within our grasp
