According to the State Board of Medical Examiners, New Jersey surgeon Santusht Perera, removed his patient’s wrong lung and lied to cover up the mistake.
The real kicker to this story is that Dr. Perera only received a six (6) month suspension and $81,000 fine for what the board determined was “gross negligence” on the part of the surgeon.
The surgery in question was originally meant to remove a tumor in the patient’s left lung. However, a portion of the right lung was removed by mistake, thus leaving the tumor to remain in the body. The surgeon then lied to the patient and told him that it was really his right lung that contained a life-threatening tumor and changed the charts to also reflect this information.
Further investigation into the matter revealed that no such tumor existed in the right lung. The doctor simply did not check the chart or pay attention to the details of the planned surgery.
Sadly, Dr. Perera can file an appeal for early restoration of his medical license in December of 2008.
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