Doctors 'took out wrong kidney from patient'
An investigation is underway in Rome after doctors removed the wrong kidney from an elderly patient, Italian media reported on Friday.
The 84-year-old woman underwent surgery in Rome’s CTO Andrea Alesini hospital to have a tumour removed from one of her kidneys, Corriere della Sera reported.
Medics, however, accidentally took out the pensioner’s healthy kidney. It took hospital staff five days to realize the mistake, Tgcom24 said.
“It was human error and the responsibility of the professionals,” Carlo Saitto, director of the local health authority, was quoted in Corriere as saying.
“We are still trying to understand how this error was caused and an evaluation is currently underway,” he said.
The hospital’s internal investigation will determine “where the procedures were not respected,” Saitto said, without commenting on the current health of the patient.
A similar case happened last year in central Italy, where doctors treated the wrong breast of a woman suffering from cancer. The 40-year-old patient underwent four months of chemotherapy in Rimini before she realized the mistake.
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The 84-year-old woman underwent surgery in Rome’s CTO Andrea Alesini hospital to have a tumour removed from one of her kidneys, Corriere della Sera reported.
Medics, however, accidentally took out the pensioner’s healthy kidney. It took hospital staff five days to realize the mistake, Tgcom24 said.
“It was human error and the responsibility of the professionals,” Carlo Saitto, director of the local health authority, was quoted in Corriere as saying.
“We are still trying to understand how this error was caused and an evaluation is currently underway,” he said.
The hospital’s internal investigation will determine “where the procedures were not respected,” Saitto said, without commenting on the current health of the patient.
A similar case happened last year in central Italy, where doctors treated the wrong breast of a woman suffering from cancer. The 40-year-old patient underwent four months of chemotherapy in Rimini before she realized the mistake.
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