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Doctor Suspended after Removing the Wrong Lung

By Ben Glass

The medical license of a surgeon in New Jersey has been suspended after it was discovered by state regulators that he had removed the wrong lung from a patient and then attempted to conceal his error.

According to the state Attorney General's Office, Dr. Santusht Perera was found by the State Board of Medical Examiners to have removed a portion of the right lung of the patient, when he was supposed to be removing a tumor from the left lung.

According to the board, Perera then informed the patient that there had been a life-threatening tumor within the right lung, despite no such growth existing. He also altered the records of the patient in order to show that he had intended to operate on the right lung.

Perera's actions were determined by the board to constitute gross negligence.

The board said that if Perera had taken "the most basic and minimal of actions that should be taken by a surgeon in advance of surgery," then the "tragic error" could have been avoided.

In addition to the suspension of his license, Perera, a practitioner at the Hoboken University Medical Center , was assessed fines and reimbursement costs of $81,000.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Full post as published by Northern Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer on July 09, 2008 (boomark / email).