Vet Claims Doctors Removed Wrong Testicle.
Via: aol.com
"LOS ANGELES (April 4) - An Air Force veteran filed a federal claim after undergoing an operation at a Veterans Administration hospital in which a healthy testicle was removed instead of a potentially cancerous one.
Benjamin Houghton, 47, was to have had his left testicle removed on June 14 at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center because there was a chance it could harbor cancer cells. It also was atrophied and painful.
But doctors mistakenly removed the right testicle, according to medical records and the claim, which seeks $200,000 for future care and unspecified damages.
"At first I thought it was a joke," Houghton told the Los Angeles Times. "Then I was shocked. I told them, 'What do I do now?"'
Houghton, his wife, Monica, and their attorney, Dr. Susan Friery, said they hoped to get the VA's attention by going public with the situation.
The claim was filed on Aug. 8 under the Federal Tort Claims Act. If it is denied, Houghton can sue the government in a federal court, Friery said.
Dr. Dean Norman, chief of staff for the Greater Los Angeles VA system, has formally apologized to Houghton and his wife.
"We are making every attempt that we can to care for Mr. Houghton, but it's in litigation, and that's all we can tell you," he said. Norman added that the hospital has made changes in practices as a result of the case.
The mistake appeared to result from a series of missteps, according to Houghton's medical records.
First, a consent form said the right testicle was to be removed and a left vasectomy performed, when it should have been the opposite. Records do not say who prepared the form. It was signed by both Houghton and the surgeon, John T. Leppert, a fifth-year University of California, Los Angeles, medical resident.
Houghton's wife said her husband did not have his glasses so he could not read it.
Next, the surgical site was to be marked with a pen.
Houghton said he was asked to identify the surgical site and pointed to his left testicle, but no one marked it. Houghton's records don't mention a mark.
Finally, the VA hospital required that a "time-out" be taken in the operating room to double-check that doctors were targeting the correct site, doing the correct procedure and operating on the correct patient.
The medical records show that a time-out was called, but it's unclear whether medical personnel consulted any document besides the erroneous consent form.
Houghton still hasn't had the other testicle removed."
