Patient has Wrong Testicle Removed...

[Alpha]

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An Air Force veteran has filed a federal claim after an operation at a Veterans Administration hospital in which a healthy testicle was removed instead of a potentially cancerous one.

 

Benjamin Houghton, 47, was to have had his left testicle removed June 14 at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center because there was a chance it could harbor cancer cells. It also was atrophied and painful.

 

But doctors mistakenly removed the right testicle, according to medical records and the claim, which seeks $200,000 for future care and unspecified damages. He still hasn't had the other testicle removed.

 

"At first I thought it was a joke," Houghton told the Los Angeles Times. "Then I was shocked. I told them, 'What do I do now?'"

 

Houghton, his wife, Monica, and their attorney, Dr. Susan Friery, said they hoped to get the VA's attention by going public with the situation.

 

Dr. Dean Norman, chief of staff for the Greater Los Angeles VA system, has formally apologized to Houghton and his wife.

 

"We are making every attempt that we can to care for Mr. Houghton, but it's in litigation, and that's all we can tell you," he said. The hospital changed practices as a result of the case, he added.

Thanks to http://digg.com / http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BOTCHED_SURGERY

[Lucandrake]

Haha nice. I've heard about this happening way back then. But recently, this is a first lol.

[i l l m a t i c]

Just $200,000? a cool mil or two woulda been better

[Diso]

Oh that stinks. He has to wait to go through that again to remove his bad one too.

[Rag]

How do you mess that up?

[Bobdrakke]

Thats crazy, just hoped he had his children.

[Mooney]

How do you mess that up?

Usually, the body part to be removed is marked with a pen, but in this case it was not. Also, the doctor who signed for the surgery was not wearing his glasses at the time (or so he claims) so he did not realize the information was incorrect.

[Rag]

How do you mess that up?

Usually, the body part to be removed is marked with a pen, but in this case it was not. Also, the doctor who signed for the surgery was not wearing his glasses at the time (or so he claims) so he did not realize the information was incorrect.

 

Right but he's a doctor. Either way i feel sorry for that poor SOB. Or maybe I shouldn't for hiring such an incompetent doctor.

[nicknicknickandnick]

For future reference, shave half your sack before you get to the hospital for surgery. That should help them figure which one.

[Jitway]

Doctors get wasted as well. The Doc probably had a bad hangover or was maybe even loaded at the time. Seen many like this before. Being a veteran and dealing with the VA Hospitals I see a lot of crap that is not right but no one ever does much about it...kinda hard to fight the government. If you do you may just vanish off the face of the earth.

[LoRd_SnOw]

Oh man thats just as bad as that guy who has his sliced off from a laser surgery. Due to the beem laser was too strong and lived his life as a female for 20yrs and was convinced to being a women yet he felt like a man. Perhaps that was just a story?

Edited April 8, 2007 by Gabriel