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Day KNH doctor performed brain surgery on wrong patient

Day KNH doctor performed brain surgery on wrong patient
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This bizarre incident at East Africa’s largest referral facility, Kenyatta National Hospital, shows even the best have a bad day in the office.

In March 2018, a top neurosurgeon was suspended after he opened the head of the wrong patient in one of the worst cases of medical malpractice. 

This is how the nightmare unfolded: Two men were wheeled into KNH unconscious.

One needed urgent head surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain while the other required nursing and medication to heal a trauma swelling in his head. 

Unfortunately, a horror mix-up of identification tags saw the wrong man wheeled into the theatre and his skull yanked opened.

Doctors did not realise the mistake until hours into the surgery, when they discovered there was no blood clot in the brain of the man sprawled on the operating table.

KNH chief executive said the hospital regretted the incident.

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