Man Falsely Diagnosed with Cancer Has Lung Removed

A news service called Telegraph that reports news events in the UK released a story about a man who had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his lung. The man was apparently told he needed to have the lung removed and he did as his doctors instructed. However, after the lung risky operation was finished and the next phase of the cancer treatment was considered, the man was told he would not be in need of the follow-up chemotherapy because he never had cancer in the first place. A lawsuit is pending to compensate for the emotional trauma that cancer victims endure and the unnecessary removal of the lung.

This man is not alone in the continuing occurrences of medical malpractice. It has now become a common feature of news agencies to report on patients, who after undergoing dangerous and lengthy operations, awake to new ailments after they are released from the hospital. Often, the new ailments are in the form of ongoing general discomfort or sharp pains to even infections. After seeking medical attention for these new ailments, the patients are told that x-rays have found foreign objects within their body, objects commonly used in surgical procedures; from scissors to scalpels. Apparently doctors are sewing patients together and not realizing that something has been left inside. This of course forces the patients to undergo another operation to have the items removed.

There are other nightmare tales of patients who have had their charts switched with other patients and wake up after a long night of surgery only to find they had the wrong procedure done; from organ removal to amputations. Imagine that you have been admitted to the hospital to have your appendix removed, but wake up to find that you are missing a kidney instead. Every operation holds risks to the patient, there is no guarantee that even the most routine procedures will not result in death. So to be forced to endure a second operation because of negligence is a frightening experience at best.

It is difficult enough to live your life and not do something careless or be subjected to someone else's reckless behavior that places you on the operating table. You are forced to trust these professionals to be observant and focused while they cut you open and move about your organs. Is it too much to ask that they make sure they are performing a procedure that is actually necessary to you?

Granted, everyone has a bad day, but when there appears to be a trend of an increased number of bad days in the hospital, it might be time to take a good long look at how those bad days can be decreased.