Doctor Mistakes
Surgeon Mistakenly Removes Healthy Kidney
Contact a Medical Malpractice Lawyer
March 19th, 2008
"Hospital feels "Profoundly Responsible""
A surgeon who removed the wrong kidney from a patient at a Minneapolis-area hospital has agreed to stop seeing patients while an investigation into the error is conducted.
Cancerous Kidney Left Behind
The incident occurred at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. According to a local news report, a mistake on the patient’s medical chart identified the wrong kidney as cancerous. The error became apparent when post-operative tests showed the cancerous kidney had been left behind.
“We just feel profoundly responsible for this,” said chief medical officer Dr. Samuel Carlson of Park Nicollet Health Services, which owns the hospital where the error occurred.
“A Devastating Tragedy”
Carlson said the hospital has apologized to the patient, whose name was not released.
“This is a devastating tragedy for the family. It is also a tragedy for all of us at Park Nicollet,” a hospital memo said.
Between October 2006 and October 2007, the Minnesota Health Department received two dozen reports of wrong site surgeries.
(Source: United Press International)
Victim of medical malpractice? Contact an experienced attorney in your area today to discuss your legal options.
