2 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 1 9
I
t's easy to blame this case of
wrong-person surgery on
the pathologist who
admittedly mixed up biopsy
slides, but we're still left
to wonder what if any-
thing the OR team
could have done to
catch the case of mis-
taken identity and save a cancer-free patient from a radical prostatec-
tomy that left him impotent and incontinent. The answer, sadly, might
be there was little anyone in the OR could have done to prevent this
case of wrong-person surgery.
Rick Huitt, who'd just retired after 41 years on the factory line at
John Deere, was told by Iowa Clinic (West Des Moines) urologist Carl
Meyer, MD, that he needed a radical prostatectomy. The problem? He
didn't. Someone else did. Joy Trueblood, MD, a pathologist at Iowa
Clinic, had mixed up slides of Mr. Huitt's non-cancerous tissue sample
from his prostate cancer screening with those of another unidentified
man who had extensive cancer.
After the unnecessary prostatectomy, Dr. Meyer sent Mr. Huitt's prostate
to a pathologist at the Iowa Methodist Medical Center, who examined the
gland and found no cancer. Dr. Meyer informed the Huitts of the finding,
then sent the biopsy slides and the pathology specimen of Mr. Huitt's
prostate to the Mayo Clinic, which confirmed the cancer-free diagnosis.
In their civil action, the Huitts accused Iowa Clinic of negligence in
the handling, processing and reporting of cancer in Mr. Huitt's biopsy
Right Surgery, Wrong Patient, Big Trouble
Did pathologist's error lead to unavoidable wrong-person surgery?
Medical Malpractice
Jerene Stremick, BSN, RN, LNC
• MONUMENTAL MIX UP When a pathology lab mislabels a specimen or a slide, it
opens the door for a wrong-person surgery to occur.