SURGERY ON THE WRONG LUNG BRINGS LICENSE SUSPENSION TO M.D.
A New Jersey doctor has had his license suspended for operating on the wrong lung and then for trying to conceal his error in an attempt to deceive his patient. The matter was brought to the attention of the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners after Santusht Perera M.D. removed a portion of his patient’s right lung when he should have been operating on the left lung. According to board proceedings, the patient’s lung contained a tumor that was slated for an operation to be conducted by Dr. Perera.
As a result of the Board of Examiners’ investigation, Dr. Perera’s medical license has been suspended for 2 years. In addition, he was fined $30,000 as a civil penalty and reimbursement costs totaling $51,273.10.
“The tragic error which occurred in this case could have been prevented had Dr. Perera simply engaged in the most basic and minimal of actions that should be taken by a surgeon in advance of surgery,” according the Board of Examiners. “We find his failure to have taken those basic actions unquestionably constituted gross negligence.”
As if it wasn’t bad enough that the surgical error occurred, Dr. Perera also attempted to conceal this negligence from his patient. Following the surgery, Dr. Perera told his patient that the right portion of the lung he removed in error contained a life-threatening tumor even though he knew that this was not true. The board also found that Dr. Perera went so far as to alter his office records to show that he intended to operate on the right lung when he was really trying to remove a tumor that was in the left lung.
David Szuchman, Consumer Affairs Director for the State of New Jersey had this to say, “As horrific as the removal of the wrong lung is, the attempted deceit is disturbing in and of itself. Patients must have trust in their physicians and Dr. Perera obviously violated that trust.”
Dr. Perera responded to the board’s finding by filing an application in Appellate Court for a reversal of the decision. This petition was denied. At this point, the 2-year suspension with a minimum of 6 months of active suspension took effect on June 6. Dr. Perera practices medicine at the Hoboken University Medical Center.
Source: State of New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. “State Licensing Board Suspends License of Surgeon Who Removed Wrong Lung.”
Press Release. June 2008. http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases08/pr20080625a.html
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