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Boston doc operates on wrong side of patient

Quality Improvement Monitor, July 11, 2008

A doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston performed surgery on the wrong side of a patient last week, an error that prompted hospital leaders to send out an e-mail to staff informing them of the mistake, according to the Boston Globe.

The hospital did not offer specifics about the surgery, but said it did not involve the removal of organs and did not cause permanent harm to the patient, the Globe said.

The e-mail sent to staff said the operation took place on a hectic day. Staff members marked the site, but a senior leader said the surgeon failed to notice the marking.

"I think he began prepping without looking for the mark and, for whatever reason, he believed he was on the correct side," Kenneth Sands, MD, MPH, Beth Israel's senior vice president for healthcare quality, told the Globe. The surgical team also failed to call a time-out before the operating, the paper said.

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