One example of medical malpractice is wrong-site surgery. This can be highly detrimental to the patient, causing them immediate harm that may not be repairable. Even when it can be repaired, it still necessitates a second surgery or further medical treatment.
But wrong-site surgery isn’t always the same. There are two general categories that it can fall into.
The wrong part of the body
First of all, wrong-site surgery occurs when a surgeon operates on the wrong part of a person’s body. This could mean they carry out the wrong operation entirely, like operating on someone’s heart when they were supposed to be operating on a lung. But it often means operating on the wrong side of the body, such as amputating a person‘s left arm instead of their right arm. A surgeon may carry out the wrong procedure entirely, but it can still be wrong-site surgery even if it’s the correct procedure – but just in the wrong location.
The wrong patient
The second type of wrong-site surgery is when the surgeon operates on the wrong patient entirely. This can happen when two patients have the same name and the medical records get switched, for example. But this can lead to devastating and unnecessary surgeries, such as amputating a limb or removing a kidney that was perfectly healthy. It also means that the other patient does not get the medical services they were expecting, which can cause health complications for them, as well.
If you have suffered harm due to these serious medical mistakes, be sure you know what legal options you have to seek proper compensation.