According to a report by The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency doctors have increasingly been using “non-medical products for clinical purposes.” They have also been found to use medical devices in ways they were not intended to be used.

“For example, use of tongue depressors in a neonatal intensive care unit as limb splints led to two deaths and one amputation because of fungal infection,” the report said.

Some surgeons used wooden clothes-pins to clip pulse measuring devices onto patients earlobes. Others were found using paperclips and urinary catheters to close wounds and some used fake fingernails to fix cuts on the nail bed.

The report went on to say, “the use of a device in these circumstances exposes users and patient to unknown and therefore unacceptable risks and may have legal and ethical implications.”

Commentary: We find it telling that they listed legal implications ahead of ethical ones.