MA Surgeon ‘Took Wrong Patient's Kidney’

A surgeon in Worcester, Massachusetts, has been accused of taking a kidney from the wrong patient after misidentifying the person on the operating table. The Massachusetts Department of Health is investigating the incident, which reportedly took place at St. Vincent Hospital. Tenet Health, which owns the hospital, released a statement saying, “This is a deeply unfortunate situation involving a patient misidentification that took place outside of our hospital and did not involve our employees.” The statement did not explain how the mishap happened, nor did it identify the surgeon involved. The hospital said it was “saddened that this incident occurred and our leadership continues to assure the affected patient receives the support and care needed.” Patient misidentifications during surgery are thought to occur only once in about every 112,000 procedures, making the mistake relatively rare.