Question

QUESTION: Read below an expert and then identify the key issues and how the situation could have been prevented. What could have went wrong?

1) Testicular Cancer Risk Treatment Gone Wrong
In another case involving similar mistakes, Mr. Benjamin Houghton suffered the loss of his one healthy testicle. The forty-seven-year-old patient was a veteran of the Air Force, who had been complaining of pain and shrinkage in his left testicle. Due to concerns about the risk of cancer, the decision was made for surgeons at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center to remove the diseased testicle. During the procedure, the healthy, right testicle was removed by accident. Later, it was revealed that a chain of errors, from errors on the patient consent form to failure on the part of the medical staff to properly mark the correct surgical site, resulted in the accident. Mr. Houghton and his wife, consequently, filed a $200,000 lawsuit against the hospital and the surgeons involved.

Answer 1

The key issues here are poor surgical plan (pre procedure)from getting consent to marking the correct surgical site by the professionals.

The situation could have been best prevented by following the Surgical Checklist.Thus has a complete detail about the patient and the pre-op preparation,diagnosis ,surgical site,allergies, pre op medication, anthropometric measurements,vitals, blood arrangements , investigations,consent records.This can act as a legal protector fueling the issues

The failure to follow up by the surgeon and the team members has to lead to the fault.There seems a communication gap,improper surgical preparation.