Most “never events” designations not supported by evidence

Via Archives of Surgery:

This study demonstrates that patient characteristics and procedural interventions are important predictors of the occurrence of 6 of the 8 never-event complications analyzed. Because predictive equations for these postoperative complications have substantial discriminatory power (ie, have C statistics substantially greater than 0.50), risk factors beyond the control of providers affect the occurrence of these adverse events. Calling these complications never events and refusing to pay for their treatment may advantage high-quality caregivers, but it also will penalize providers that care for the most vulnerable patients or that perform procedures with higher-than-average risk.