Surgeon accidentally removes woman's kidney, blames missing radiology results
A Florida-based surgeon must pay a $3,000 fine for removing a woman’s kidney because he thought it was a cancerous mass. The surgeon has pointed out that the patient's radiology results were not at the hospital at the time of the surgery.
“I’m definitely working from a blind perspective,” Roman Vazquez, MD, told the Florida Board of Medicine, according to a report from the Panama City News Herald.
Vazquez was asked to perform general surgery to open up the patient so that he orthopedic surgeons could perform a spinal fusion to alleviate her lower back pain. Since birth, she’s had a kidney in her pelvic region, which never ascended to her abdomen. Vazquez saw this and removed it, thinking it was a cancerous mass.
Documents stated that the patient told Vazquez she forgot to mention the pelvic kidney to the doctors; however, her attorney argued that her orthopedic surgeons were aware.
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As a senior news writer for TriMed, Subrata covers cardiology, clinical innovation and healthcare business. She has a master’s degree in communication management and 12 years of experience in journalism and public relations.