Doc Faces $5G Fine for Removing Healthy Kidney Instead of Gallbladder

I am not sure if this goes here but check this out, rather than post the link I just copied the story, check out this poor bastard.

Doc Faces $5G Fine for Removing Healthy Kidney Instead of Gallbladder

By Marrecca Fiore Jun 8th 2010 1:29PM
Categories: News

A Florida surgeon who accidentally removed a patient's healthy kidney instead of his gallbladder is facing a $5,000 fine and 50 hours of community service, the state Board of Medicine said Friday.

Even so, the board said Dr. Bernard Zaragoza of Coral Springs wasn't inept or careless when he removed a kidney rather than the gallbladder from an 83-year-old patient, he just had "bad luck," the Miami Herald reports.

Zaragoza made the mistake due to the patient's "unusual anatomy." His kidney was located where his gallbladder should have been, the newspaper reported.

"I was completely mortified,'' Zaragoza said. "It's a complication I never heard of, dreamed of or imagined could happen.''

Experts testifying during the board's hearing said the operation was difficult, not just because the man's anatomy was strange, but also because he had previous abdominal surgeries that left scar tissue blocking Zaragoza's view and forcing him to operate at an unusual angle.

Although Zaragoza's attorney argued that the error was a "surgical complication," hearing officer Larry J. Sartin said the accidental removal of a kidney doesn't qualify as a complication of a gallbladder surgery. Sartin wrote that when Zaragoza took out the kidney, he violated the medical practice act.

In addition to Sartin's recommended $5,000 fine and 50 hours of community service, Zaragoza also faces reimbursement of $25,000 for the state's costs of investigation and prosecution as courts have ruled that the losing party must pay costs for the winner.

The surgery was done in October 2007 at Northwest Medical Center in Margate. The patient, identified as J.C., died three weeks later of heart failure, the newspaper reported.

http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/06/08/doc-faces-5g-fine-for-removing-kidney-instead-of-gallbladder/4

EDITED: Moved to proper section: New Articles - okarol/admin