Hospital Performs Kidney Transplant On Wrong Patient

Two employees of an Ohio Hospital have been placed on leave after a kidney was transplanted into the wrong person.

The medical mess occurred July 2 and left the intended recipient still waiting for their turn to get the life-saving surgery.

In a statement obtained by the New York Post, University Hospitals apologized for the incident and said it is still investigating how the kidney ended up in the wrong person's body.

“We are dismayed that an error recently occurred resulting in one patient receiving a kidney intended for another,” the statement said.

Luckily, the person who accidentally received the kidney was compatible with the organ and is now recovering. The intended organ recipient, however, is still waiting as their surgery "has been delayed," the hospital explained.

Hospital officials have informed the United Network for Organ Sharing about the incident and are currently reviewing the details of the event “to understand what led to the error and to ensure that such an event will never happen again."

“We have offered our sincerest apologies to these patients and their families,” the statement continued.

“We recognize they entrusted us with their care. The situation is entirely inconsistent with our commitment to helping patients return to health and live life to the fullest.”

The hospital system has done about 95 kidney transplants this year and 194 in 2020, according to data provided by the Department of Health and Human Services Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

Transplant mishaps, although rare, have happened before. In 2019, a New Jersey hospital mixed up two patients waiting for kidney transplants. The patients shared the same name and age, which led the doctors to confuse the two with each other.

Fortunately, the kidneys matched the bodies of the two patients. Had the organs been transplanted to a patient who does not match with the kidney, the consequences could have been fatal, according to CBS News.

About 107,000 Americans are currently on waiting lists for a transplant, the outlet said.