August 28, 2012
Organ transplants at Methodist Medical Center in Dallas were recently halted due to a potentially deadly mistake. According to NBC 5 News, the hospital voluntarily suspended its transplant program after an organ was transplanted into the wrong patient last month.
A spokesperson for the hospital stated that the decision to halt all procedures temporarily was made after a patient at the facility received a kidney that was meant to be given to another patient. The mistake happened when a staff member incorrectly matched the donor’s ID with the patient’s name. The mistake was discovered shortly after the procedure was completed. Luckily, the patient didn’t develop complications afterwards; however, the mistake showed hospital officials that their system for matching patients and organs for the transplants could use adjustments to prevent any similar potentially fatal mistakes.
The person who was responsible for the mix-up is no longer employed at the hospital and officials say that the program is back up and running after reworking the verification process and having it approved by the United Network for Organ Sharing.
Botched surgeries such as this have been the basis for hundreds of medical malpractice lawsuits. That is why the drug injury lawyers at Ferrer Poirot Feller Daniel are hopeful that the new and improved system will better protect the estimated 208 patients, who are currently on the hospital’s transplant waiting list, from costly and potentially life threatening medical mistakes.