A hospital in Cleveland, Ohio made a mistake by giving a new kidney to the wrong patient. Organ transplants can be very dicey if the donor organ is not compatible but good thing nothing got worse. Fortunately, the kidney was compatible to the patient.
University hospitals in Cleveland had a grave surprise as they reported a mistake concerning kidney transplants. Investigators are looking into how one of the UH made that error in designating who got the organ for transplant.
Errors like this would cause the patient in need to be kicked back into the waiting list. For some patients, this will be a matter of great concern.
The mix-up!
On July 2, two major operations were mistakes as one was a kidney transplant, which should have gone without a problem. The system reported that the kidney for a patient on the waiting list, did not get it. Instead, someone else got it, reported News5 Cleveland.
These operations are crucial that they need a perfect match for donor organs and patients. But this time there is compatibility for the wrong patient. Sources verify that the blood type is very compatible, noted NY Daily News.
An error like this should be noticed, but it was not given enough attention until the second operation. UH is not commenting on the progress of the surgery when the doctors had noticed they were giving the donor organ to the wrong recipient.
The patient who should have gotten it is again on the recipient list.
Who made the mistake?
According to University Hospital, it was allegedly two caregivers who made the mistake but no more information was given to the media. Whether they are doctors, staff, or nurses has not been started, and they are suspended while under investigative action.
The UH administration informed that the patients are still getting the necessary organ transplant as usual.
Other instances of confusion with transplant operations
It is not the first time that a mix-up has occurred. Another case of a transplant mistake was reported in 2013 at Toledo. The patient should have been Sarah Fudacz for a new kidney, with her brother as a donor.
What happened next during the operation for the transplant was a big problem. It was an unbelievable mistake that is inconceivable. Her brothers' kidney was thrown away by a nurse mistakenly. Fudacz later said that a part of her brother wasted.
This mistake by the nurse forced her to suffer months of painful dialysis from the monumental blunder.
If the kidney had not been disposed, she said that she could have been recovering and getting better.
Because of the mistake, the longtime nurse was fired from her job and the patient got a hefty $650,000 settlement for her pain.
The University Hospital told the error to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages organ transplants in the US. Other bodies like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are dealing with the controversy. They will take action after a review, cited ABC News.
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