this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2024
77 points (96.4% liked)

Health - Resources and discussion for everything health-related

2291 readers
59 users here now

Health: physical and mental, individual and public.

Discussions, issues, resources, news, everything.

See the pinned post for a long list of other communities dedicated to health or specific diagnoses. The list is continuously updated.

Nothing here shall be taken as medical or any other kind of professional advice.

Commercial advertising is considered spam and not allowed. If you're not sure, contact mods to ask beforehand.

Linked videos without original description context by OP to initiate healthy, constructive discussions will be removed.

Regular rules of lemmy.world apply. Be civil.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

A Florida surgeon mistakenly removed a man’s liver instead of his spleen, causing him to die on the operating table, a lawyer for the man’s widow alleges.

William Bryan, 70, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, underwent surgery on Aug. 21, at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast hospital in Miramar, Florida, because of spleen abnormalities, according to a statement from the personal injury firm Zarzaur Law, based in Pensacola, Florida.

top 16 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] superkret 28 points 2 months ago

I'll just bookmark this for when I really fuck up at my IT job and cause some data loss.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

How?

Shaknovsky told Beverly Bryan her husband’s spleen was so diseased that it was four times bigger than normal and it had moved to the other side of his body

Oh, of course. I'm sure organs do that sort of thing all the time.

[–] Shawdow194@fedia.io 13 points 2 months ago

"This spleen is so diseased it's in the exact same place as and looks just like a liver"

[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I mean, there is an extremely rare condition where basically all of your internal organs are mirrored or flipped from their normal orientation... (situs inversus, roughly 1 in 10,000 people are estimated to have it)

But...

If that were the case here, it'd be immediately obvious to any one with basic anatomical knowledge.

Hope this dumbass goes to jail.

[–] superkret 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Hope this dumbass goes to jail.

Why? Unless intent can be proven, this is a fuck-up and nothing else. Jailtime would benefit literally no one in this case.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] superkret -3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Cool. Whose life is improved by the prison sentence?

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Everyone, knowing a killer didn't get away with it.

If you dislike the existence of the state at a fundamental level, I will also accept vigilantes removing his liver.

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

My appendix was apparently on the other side. It took them forever to diagnose and I lived with chronic appendicitis as a result for over a year. That was fun. It took my ass going septic and going to the ER for them to even bother to run a CT and find the source of the problem. Even when I said are you sure this isn't appendicitis? No raiderkev, your appendix is on the other side. This is just indigestion. Fuck you urgent care.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

I assume that in this case, they did the imaging before starting the surgery. Even if the spleen really was on the wrong side, they should have known in advance.

[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 2 points 2 months ago

If I was a surgeon I could see myself making that mistake

[–] ArmyTiger@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago

As a surgeon, I have a lot of questions. But I have trouble accepting a personal injury attorney's statement at face value when they stand to benefit from a judgement or settlement, too.

[–] aaaaace@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 2 months ago

The last time Amelia Earhart's airplane was serviced was Florida.

[–] Bougie_Birdie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 months ago

Well of course the doctor thought the spleen was abnormal if they mistook a liver for it

[–] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Florida has a doctor shortage and will only get worse because of the abortion ban and other attacks on minorities by the Christo fascists running the state. I bet mistakes like this will be more common in the future

[–] noxy@yiffit.net 2 points 2 months ago

I've made a very similar mistake in Rimworld, tho I blame the menu for having "harvest liver" so close to "install bionic leg"