A surgeon at a Rhode Island Hospital committed malpractice by mistakenly operating on the wrong part of a patient’s hand. Now, health officials are investigating how this mistake could have occurred. But even more alarming is that this isn’t the first time this happened: the same Rhode Island Hospital has a history of operating on incorrect body parts. In fact, this is the hospital’s fifth wrong-site surgery since 2007.
According to Timothy Babineau, the hospital president, the surgeon operated on the wrong finger last Thursday. The patient was meant to have surgery on two fingers, but instead underwent a procedure on the joint of a different finger. So far, the hospital has not released the name of the patient or the surgeon involved in the incident. The hospital also says that it will investigate what went wrong alongside the Rhode Island Department of Health.
Rhode Island Hospital was fined $50,000 after brain surgeons operated on the wrong side of the brain in three separate cases in 2007. The fourth case of wrong-site surgery involved a child who needed a cleft palate surgery. In that case, the wrong side of the child’s mouth was operated on.
Our office has recently and successfully handled a case in which the wrong finger was operated on and received a substantial settlement for our client in the matter. If you feel a doctor has committed malpractice in a similar fashion against you, do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your case.
