Treatment errors doctors removed healthy kidney

Doctors at Klinikum Klagenfurt removed a patient instead of the kidney with a cancerous tumor, the healthy kidney.

A 59-year-old patient had a healthy kidney removed at Klagenfurt hospital. Obviously, the doctors made a serious mistake. Instead of the cancerous kidney, the right, healthy kidney was removed. If the doctors fail to remove the tumor from the affected kidney, the person concerned may be bound to a lifetime of dialysis (blood washing).

At Klinikum Klagenfurt, the doctors made a serious mistake during an operation. The patient had to undergo medical treatment because the left kidney is affected by a malignant cancerous tumor. However, instead of removing the left kidney, the right, healthy kidney was removed. This medical error was noticed only in the pathology, when the doctors noticed that the kidney was not affected by a tumor. But at that moment it was already too late, the kidney could not be transplanted back. At Klinikum Klagenfurt the question now arises as to how this serious medical error could occur. Why are all security standards failing??

For the affected cancer patient, the removal of the wrong kidney is more than tragic. Now the doctors have to try to operate the cancerous tumor out of the affected kidney in order to somehow save the kidney. Or the affected kidney must also be removed, which would mean that the person concerned would probably be bound to a dialysis treatment for a lifetime. Only a donor kidney could then help the person affected.

The causes of a treatment error can be very complex. Often a human error comes into consideration. Numerous risk factors favor a medical malpractice, especially because treatment errors are rather taboo instead of analyzing them. However, the identification of causes is very important in order to avoid the risk of medical malpractice in the future. Very common are the mistakes of „Left Right“, sometimes even patients are confused. However, an increasing work load of the physicians, inaccurate distribution of responsibilities or a missing or faulty communication between patient and doctor are also possible. The causes of this serious malpractice must now fathom the prosecutor. (sb, 04.11.2010)

Also read:
Treatment errors: doctors are often overburdened
Cancer not recognized: doctor has to pay
Kidney transplant: Urgent & life-giving

Image: Michael Bührke