ONE in five people who undergo surgery in Australia will develop an infection that requires further treatment or need to have a second operation to fix complications caused by medical errors or the poor quality of the new generation of hip and knee prostheses.
Preventable medical problems are costing billions of dollars, driving up the cost of private health insurance and placing patients' lives at risk, according to George Savvides, managing director of Australia's largest private health insurer, Medibank Private.
The company's figures show the rate of hospital-acquired infection is more than double previous estimates.......