Surgical Error Results in Mother’s Death
32-year-old Maria de Jesus was suffering from appendicitis when she was admitted for surgery at Queens Hospital in London in October 2011. She was also 21 weeks pregnant.
Rather than remove her appendix, surgeons removed her healthy right ovary. De Jesus was discharged from the hospital 10 days after the surgery but returned again in agonizing pain. The medical reports showed that her ovary had been removed rather than her appendix. Four days later, while she was in the hospital, De Jesus gave birth to a still born son. She underwent a second surgery to have her appendix removed but it was too late. She died on the operating table from multiple organ failure brought on by blood poisoning. As a result of avoidable diagnostic and surgical errors, a young woman and the child she was carrying lost their lives.
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