Wrong patient gets kidney at USC
Kidney transplant program shut down
USC University Hospital shut down its kidney transplant program last month after a kidney was transplanted accidentally into the wrong patient. According to a spokesman for OneLegacy, the program that coordinates organ transplants in Los Angeles, the patient was unharmed because the kidney happened to be an acceptable match.
Dr. Goran Klintmalm, a veteran surgeon at Baylor Regional Transplant Institute in Dallas, said that a mistake like this was highly unlikely. “The safeguards are very substantial,” he said. “I can’t even imagine how this mistake could have happened.” Apparently the mix-up occurred after two kidneys, from separate donors, arrived at the transplant centre around the same time on Jan 29.
“Our packaging and documentation was accurate,” said Thomas Mone, the chief executive of OneLegacy. “Presumably this was human error” at the hospital. ~ Los Angeles Times, Feb 18
Dr. Goran Klintmalm, a veteran surgeon at Baylor Regional Transplant Institute in Dallas, said that a mistake like this was highly unlikely. “The safeguards are very substantial,” he said. “I can’t even imagine how this mistake could have happened.” Apparently the mix-up occurred after two kidneys, from separate donors, arrived at the transplant centre around the same time on Jan 29.
“Our packaging and documentation was accurate,” said Thomas Mone, the chief executive of OneLegacy. “Presumably this was human error” at the hospital. ~ Los Angeles Times, Feb 18
Wrong patient gets kidney at USC
Jared Yee
medical error
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