Review/Short Perspective: “Never Events” likely never occur without a breach in the standard of care (SOC) while “Near Never Events” are typically not far behind

Background: “Never Events” (<1/1000) likely never occur without a breach in the standard of care (SOC), while “Near Never Events” (<1/100) are typically not far behind. Methods: “Never Events” are described as “Harmful hospital-acquired conditions that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services identified in 2008.” Here, we focused on wrong-site spine surgery (WSSS)/wrong-level spine surgery (WLSS), 3 select cases of Caspar Distraction Screws causing hematomas, and one medicolegal case involving multiple simultaneous “Never Events.” Results: The spine literature documented the following frequencies of wrong-site spine surgery WSSS/”Never Events” as occurring in 4.5/10,000 lumbar, 6.8/10,000 cervical, and 2.2/10,000 cranial procedures; other series focused on the incidence of wrong-level spine surgery (WLSS). Three “Never Events” consisting of cervical epidural hematomas were attributed to Caspar Distraction Screws. A medicolegal case is also presented in which a spine surgeon caused multiple simultaneous “Never Events” (i.e., ipsilateral surgical errors) during an anterior cervical fusion. Finally, the definition of “Never Events” was newly expanded to better assess “Near Never Events”, as the latter applied to varied frequencies of esophageal perforations, plate/screw migration/erosions/displacement, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, infection, and other factors. Conclusion: “Never Events” (<1/1000) likely never occur without a breach in the SOC, while “Near Never Events” (<1/100) are typically not far behind.