United States brings in new rules to prevent surgical errors

New rules in the United States that came into effect this week require doctors and hospitals to take certain specified steps to prevent operating on the wrong body part or wrong patient.

Among the requirements, surgeons and nurses must take what is being referred to as “time out” before operating on patients, to confirm that the right patient is on the table and that doctors are operating on the right body part and the right side of the body.

Hospital regulators hope the rules, which came …