Surgeon Mistakenly Removes Liver

This podcast discusses a ‘never event’ medical mistake.

A recent news report described a death caused by a surgeon who mistakenly removed a patient’s liver instead of the spleen as planned. A surgical error of this nature is called a “never event” — it should not happen; basic anatomy distinguishes the liver from the spleen. When hospitals have pre-surgery verification procedures (team confirmation of the planned operation), such errors cannot occur. Even if a verification procedure was not in place, the staff in the operating room (nurses, anesthesiologists, techs) should have intervened if they observed an error of this magnitude.