"Oh, This Is Not the Patient"…Chest Surgery Performed on Another Patient Sharing the Same Hospital Room

An absurd medical accident occurred in Taiwan where medical staff mistakenly performed chest surgery on a different patient in the same hospital room.

On the 11th, Taiwanese media including Yahoo Taiwan reported that this accident happened on the 4th at a municipal hospital located in Kaohsiung (高雄), Taiwan. The victim, Mr. Hwang, was hospitalized for hypotension and was sharing a room with Mr. Jang, who was scheduled to undergo chest drainage surgery. On the day of the surgery, hospital staff sent Mr. Hwang to the operating room without properly verifying the patient's identity, mistaking him for Mr. Jang, and the medical team proceeded with the surgery without properly checking the name tag attached to the patient's arm.

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Nurses who went to the room to administer medication to Mr. Hwang were surprised to find he was not in bed and hurriedly rushed to the operating room. However, since the surgery could not be stopped midway, Mr. Hwang had no choice but to undergo the chest drainage surgery that he did not need. Chest drainage involves inserting a tube into the pleural cavity to remove blood or air. Fortunately, it was reported that there were no significant problems with Mr. Hwang’s condition after the surgery.

Taiwan’s medical authorities decided to strictly reprimand the hospital and conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident. The Kaohsiung City Health Bureau fined the hospital 500,000 Taiwan dollars (approximately 21 million KRW) and dismissed the hospital director. The investigation revealed that Mr. Hwang was an elderly patient with communication difficulties, and the surgery coincided with a shift change, which led to improper patient identity verification. The hospital disciplined five medical staff members, including doctors and nurses, related to this incident. Deputy Minister Wang Bi-sung of the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated, "We will form a task force with authorities and experts to thoroughly investigate the cause of the incident and prepare measures to prevent recurrence."

Meanwhile, a similar medical accident recently sparked controversy in Hong Kong. In a public hospital in the Yuen Long district of Hong Kong, a medical error occurred in January where a woman in her 50s underwent surgery to remove healthy reproductive organs including the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. The 59-year-old victim visited the hospital on January 5th for treatment of postmenopausal bleeding. Medical staff collected samples of her uterus and surrounding tissues and sent them to pathology. On January 18th, she was diagnosed with endometrial cancer and about a week later underwent surgery at the hospital’s sister facility to remove the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, and pelvic lymph nodes, and was discharged four days later.

However, the problem arose later. A pathologist who examined the tissues removed during surgery found no signs of cancer, prompting further investigation. It was discovered that 30 minutes after the victim’s sample was taken, a 71-year-old female patient also underwent a biopsy. Both samples were sent to pathology on the same day. CCTV footage confirmed that the victim’s sample and the 71-year-old patient’s cancer-diagnosed sample were mixed up, resulting in a misdiagnosis of cancer for the victim. The victim only learned two months after surgery that she did not have cancer and that her healthy reproductive organs had been removed due to the misdiagnosis.

The foundation overseeing the two hospitals held a press conference on the 16th of last month, stating, "We understand that this incident has had a significant impact on the patient’s physical and mental condition," and expressed "sincere apologies and condolences to the patient." The hospital is required to investigate the circumstances of the medical accident and submit the results to the foundation within eight weeks.

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