Burke JP. Patient safety: infection control - a problem for patient safety. New England Journal of Medicine. 2003 Feb 13;348(7):651-656.

A description of the growing concern with infections and adverse events in hospitals.

Gawande AA, Studdert DM, Orav EJ, Brennan TA, Zinner MJ. Risk factors for retained instruments and sponges after surgery. New England Journal of Medicine. 2003 Jan 16;348(3):229-235.

Patients with retained foreign bodies were more likely than controls to have had emergency surgery (33 percent vs. 7 percent, P<0.001) or an unexpected change in surgical procedure (34 percent vs. 9 percent, P<0.001).