Doctors removed his jaw by mistake—how could this happen?
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Medical errors can have devastating consequences, especially when misdiagnoses lead to unnecessary procedures.
What should have been a routine treatment quickly turned into a life-changing ordeal, leaving one patient with irreversible damage.
Now, an investigation is underway to uncover how such a critical mistake was made.
A routine dental procedure took a devastating turn for a man in Rome after doctors mistakenly removed his jaw, confusing him with another patient.
The 35-year-old had visited Umberto I Dental Clinic on 20 May to have a wisdom tooth extracted and a cyst removed.
A biopsy was performed on the cyst, but the results were mixed up with those of another patient who had a malignant tumour.
When he returned to collect his results, he was told the growth was cancerous and required urgent surgery and chemotherapy.
Due to the severity of the supposed tumour, doctors removed his jaw, leaving him with permanent facial damage, including paralysis on the right side of his mouth.
A month later, follow-up tests revealed the tumour results were negative, meaning the surgery had been unnecessary.
Doctors informed him that chemotherapy was no longer required, raising suspicions about the accuracy of his initial diagnosis.
Seeking confirmation, he had the biological material tested at a lab at the Catholic University of Rome.
The results proved he had never had a deadly tumour, confirming a catastrophic medical error.
‘Even now I cannot describe my state of mind,’ he said.
‘I am alive, I am healthy, I do not have any fatal disease, but I have suffered a great deal.’
The patient has since filed a complaint, and the Prosecutor’s Office in Rome is investigating how the mistake occurred and who was responsible.
This incident is just one of many cases of medical malpractice that have resulted in life-altering consequences.
In 2017, a woman sued the NHS after a surgeon mistakenly operated on the wrong kidney at Milton Keynes Hospital.
Lauren Hodgson had been scheduled for a minor procedure to remove a stone from her left kidney, but an error led to surgeons operating on the right side instead.
She later suffered from low blood pressure, an indication of kidney dysfunction, and was forced to take time off work.
‘You expect to be looked after in hospital, not for something like this to happen,’ she said.
‘This happened in a university teaching hospital which is training people to be surgeons.’
‘If they can't get it right, who can you rely on? My life may never be the same again.’
Shocking breaches of trust in the medical field are more common than you think—here’s other cases that will leave you stunned.
Medical mistakes can have life-changing consequences, but how often do they go unnoticed? Share your thoughts in the comments.
What should have been a routine treatment quickly turned into a life-changing ordeal, leaving one patient with irreversible damage.
Now, an investigation is underway to uncover how such a critical mistake was made.
A routine dental procedure took a devastating turn for a man in Rome after doctors mistakenly removed his jaw, confusing him with another patient.
The 35-year-old had visited Umberto I Dental Clinic on 20 May to have a wisdom tooth extracted and a cyst removed.
A biopsy was performed on the cyst, but the results were mixed up with those of another patient who had a malignant tumour.
When he returned to collect his results, he was told the growth was cancerous and required urgent surgery and chemotherapy.
Due to the severity of the supposed tumour, doctors removed his jaw, leaving him with permanent facial damage, including paralysis on the right side of his mouth.
A month later, follow-up tests revealed the tumour results were negative, meaning the surgery had been unnecessary.
Doctors informed him that chemotherapy was no longer required, raising suspicions about the accuracy of his initial diagnosis.
Seeking confirmation, he had the biological material tested at a lab at the Catholic University of Rome.
The results proved he had never had a deadly tumour, confirming a catastrophic medical error.
‘Even now I cannot describe my state of mind,’ he said.
‘I am alive, I am healthy, I do not have any fatal disease, but I have suffered a great deal.’
The patient has since filed a complaint, and the Prosecutor’s Office in Rome is investigating how the mistake occurred and who was responsible.
This incident is just one of many cases of medical malpractice that have resulted in life-altering consequences.
In 2017, a woman sued the NHS after a surgeon mistakenly operated on the wrong kidney at Milton Keynes Hospital.
Lauren Hodgson had been scheduled for a minor procedure to remove a stone from her left kidney, but an error led to surgeons operating on the right side instead.
She later suffered from low blood pressure, an indication of kidney dysfunction, and was forced to take time off work.
‘You expect to be looked after in hospital, not for something like this to happen,’ she said.
‘This happened in a university teaching hospital which is training people to be surgeons.’
‘If they can't get it right, who can you rely on? My life may never be the same again.’
Shocking breaches of trust in the medical field are more common than you think—here’s other cases that will leave you stunned.
- 'I messed up': Aged care worker’s shocking crime stuns families
- Nurse’s misconduct in front of vulnerable elderly patient exposed: 'He knew what he was doing'
- Doctor banned for 10 years after shocking allegations of inappropriate conduct
Medical mistakes can have life-changing consequences, but how often do they go unnoticed? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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