Baltimore Medical Malpractice Lawyers: Surgical Procedure Performed on Wrong Baby

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When a new parent has a perfectly healthy baby in the hospital, it is normal for the baby to be taken away for routine tests, only to be brought back to the mother shortly after those tests have been completed. What is not expected is to have your baby returned to you, only to find out that a surgical procedure was performed on your newborn without any knowledge or approval from you. This is exactly what happened to a Tennessee mother recently, whose newborn son was operated on after doctors mistook him for another child.

Doctors performed a procedure call a frenulectomy, which involves cutting the flap under the child’s tongue. If the skin under the tongue is too tight, it can cause complications with breast-feeding, other feeding issues and possible speech problems down the road.

Unfortunately, this mother’s baby did not have any issues at all with is tongue, so when the nurse brought the baby back to her, telling the mother about the procedure that had just been done on her son, she was surprised and upset. Calling the doctor’s behavior “reckless,” she said that a medical mistake like this should never happen in a hospital.

There is no way to know if the procedure will have any lasting effects on the child’s speech or impact the child’s ability to eat properly. The current concern is that the baby had to undergo a completely unnecessary surgical procedure performed by a doctor who should have known better.

The doctor who performed the frenulectomy came forward, admitted the mistake and apologized to the infant’s family. Representatives of the hospital declined to comment, citing federal privacy regulations.

Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Leviness, Tolzman & Hamilton Represent Victims of Medical Negligence

If you or someone you love has been injured as a result of a medical professional’s negligence, the experienced, compassionate Maryland medical malpractice lawyers at LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton are on your side. We will fight hard to make sure that you receive the financial compensation you deserve and that the negligent parties are held responsible. For a confidential consultation, call us today at 800-547-4LAW (4529) or contact us online.

Our offices are located in Baltimore, Columbia and Towson, allowing us to represent families harmed in medical malpractice in Anne Arundel County, Carroll County, Harford County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Maryland’s Western Counties, Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore, as well as the communities of Catonsville, Essex, Halethorpe, Middle River, Rosedale, Gwynn Oak, Brooklandville, Dundalk, Pikesville, Parkville, Nottingham, Windsor Mill, Lutherville, Timonium, Sparrows Point, Ridgewood and Elkridge.