Minneapolis Hospital Admits To Removing Wrong Kidney In Cancer Patient

St. Louis, MN (AHN) - In what officials are calling a "tragic medical error," a surgical team from Minneapolis-area hospital removed the wrong kidney from a patient with kidney cancer.

Apologizing for removing a patient's healthy kidney and leaving a cancerous one behind, Dr. Samuel Carlson, chief medical officer for Park Nicollet Health Services said, "We feel just profoundly responsible for this."

The error occurred weeks before the surgery at Methodist Hospital, when the kidney on the wrong side was identified on the patient's medical charts as cancerous. The patient, whose identity has not been revealed, was left with the cancerous kidney when the healthy one was removed last week.

The hospital is "working closely with them to support them in every way we can," Carlson said, the Star Tribune in Minneapolis reported Tuesday.

It is not yet revealed what effect the error may have on the patient's chances of recovery. The patient is still admitted at the same hospital where doctors are discussing other treatment options.

The surgeon involved has voluntarily stopped seeing patients until the hospital's investigation is completed.

The hospital confessed about its error publically in a memo to Park Nicollet employees on Monday. The chief medical officer for Park Nicollet Health Services made the error known to the public because he felt an ethical obligation to report it.

Accepting the full responsibility for the oversight, the hospital assured the public that it would look into the cause of the surgical error. "An error of this degree has, to the best of our knowledge, never happened at this hospital before," Carlson said.