USC Transplant Program Restarted After Mistake
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A University of Southern California-affiliated hospital has reactivated its kidney transplant program after a doctor put the wrong kidney into a patient who survived the error.
USC University Hospital's transplant director Dr. Cynthia Herrington said Tuesday the program was restarted Monday after voluntarily shutting down Feb. 4 to strengthen patient safety standards.
The federal oversight agency United Network for Organ Sharing conducted a review at the hospital in February.
The mix-up occurred Jan. 29 after two kidneys from separate donors arrived at the transplant center.
A mismatched kidney could be fatal, but the patient who received the wrong kidney was not harmed because the organ was a close enough match and the donor's blood type was O, which is universally accepted.
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