Personal Injury Law

Surgical Error Causes Removal of Healthy Kidney

Our Atlanta medical malpractice attorneys on occasion review cases in which surgical procedures are performed on the wrong side of the body.

Last Tuesday there was a report of a wrong site surgery at a Minnesota hospital. Surgeons at the hospital mistakenly removed the wrong kidney from a patient. The surgery was performed last Tuesday at Methodist Hospital in Minneapolis, but it wasn't until the next day that it was discovered that the wrong kidney had been removed. A pathology examination of the removed kidney determined that it was healthy.

The doctor who removed the kidney was a veteran surgeon. The hospital while accepting responsibility for the actions, has pointed a finger at a paperwork mistake.

Most hospitals have safety measures in place designed to prevent wrong-site surgery, including marking body parts to be operated on in advance of surgery and requiring a "time out" in the operating room to give surgical staff a chance to double check documentation and voice any concerns.

Full post as published by Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog on March 20, 2008 (boomark / email).