When you have to plan to have surgery, you already know that there are risks involved. No one goes into surgery thinking that it will go exactly as planned, because every person is different and each surgery has its own complications. What you do expect is that your medical team will be able to handle the issues that come up and treat you with the respect you deserve as a patient. Stupid mistakes, like leaving a sponge in your surgical site wound or operating on the wrong side of your body, are inexcusable.
Wrong-site surgeries are one of the most terrifying of surgical errors, because the patient may have to go through surgery a second time or be unable to complete surgery at all. For example, if a surgeon removed the wrong kidney from a patient, then it might be impossible for that patient to have the correct kidney removed in the future without a donor
Another shocking error that sometimes takes place is a wrong-patient surgery. How can a doctor actually operate on the wrong patient? It usually comes down to poor record keeping and communication. Patients sometimes have similar names or are in rooms with reversed numbers, ie: Room 68 and 86, which could be easy to reverse in the paperwork by mistake. There are many safeguards in place to prevent this kind of error, but they still happen.
If you are hurt because of negligence, you need to know you’re not alone. Many people have suffered because of surgical errors. You have the right to seek out answers and ask to be compensated. Our website has more information.