What to Know
- A New Jersey hospital mistakenly gave a kidney transplant to the wrong person.
- The two patients involved in the mix-up happen to have the same name and are around the same age, according to the spokesperson.
- Both patients ended up undergoing successful kidney transplants and are doing well.
A New Jersey hospital mistakenly gave a kidney transplant to the wrong patient who happens to have the same name as the intended recipient.
A spokesperson for Virtua Health told NBC10 a 51-year-old patient underwent a successful kidney transplant at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital on Nov. 18 in Camden, New Jersey. The next day, a member of the hospital’s clinical team discovered the kidney was accidentally given to the wrong person and was supposed to go to a priority patient on the waiting list.
The two patients involved in the mix-up happen to have the same name and are around the same age, according to the spokesperson.
U.S. & World
The hospital reported the error to the Organ Procurement and Transportation Network and the New Jersey Department of Health.
Despite the mix-up, the patient who received the kidney happened to be a match and is doing well, Virtua said.
The medical director and the transplant coordinator also visited the patient who should’ve received the kidney and apologized. That patient also underwent a successful kidney transplant on Sunday and is doing well.
“This is an unprecedented event in our respected 40-plus-year transplant program,” Virtua Health wrote in a statement. “As an organization committed to safety and process, we immediately instituted additional measures and educational reinforcement to help ensure this does not happen again.”
