Hospital Removes Wrong Kidney From Sick Child

Wednesday, October 01, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: hospitals, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) A young child undergoing surgery to remove a diseased kidney had the healthy kidney removed instead, officials from Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Ireland, has admitted.

The boy, believed to be four years old, faces lifelong dialysis if a kidney donor is not found for him. The hospital said it has discharged the child and conveyed its apologies to his family. The family is happy to continue returning to Our Lady's for followup care, the hospital said.

The hospital said that it had committed a "significant and regrettable medical error," calling the mistake "unprecedented." An internal review is being conducted into the incident, and the hospital board of directors will decide based on this report if a change in hospital procedure is needed.

Ireland's Labor Party called for the findings of the review to be made public.

"While I would accept that private aspects of this case must remain private, any findings of an investigation that indicates that there may have been systems failures or other shortcomings should be published," party official Jan O'Sullivan said. "The parents of this child, as well as parents of other children who are being treated for similar conditions in the hospital, need reassurance that this kind of incident does not recur."

While expressing confidence in the hospital's internal review, Irish Health Minister Mary Harney also called for an independent investigation of the incident. This external review will be conducted by experts from Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London, one of the most renowned children's hospitals in the world. It will begin when the Our Lady's review is complete, and will include recommendations for changes to hospital procedure.

The complete findings of the external review will be shared only with the hospital and the child's parents. The key findings, however, will also be made available to the public.

Sources for this story include: news.bbc.co.uk.