Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Embryo Swapping

Another example of 'patient mis-identification' with the patient in this case being either the wrong mother or the wrong embryo -- take your pick:

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090922/NEWS16/909220358

Note that in this case, the mother chose to continue the pregnancy even though the wrong embryo had been implanted. The article goes on to list a similar case where the mother chose to terminate the pregnancy.

Baby Swapping as Patient Mis-Identification

A 2003 story out of Boston highlighted a baby swapping incident as an instance of the broader problem of patient mis-identification:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/09/26/hospital_baby_mixup_renews_old_fears?mode=pf
In this particular case, the mother recognized that the infant given to her to nurse was not her own. What is of interest here is the frequency with which patient mis-identification occurs in hospitals -- with baby-swapping being only a particular example. Despite elaborate procedures to prevent these cases, they occur with depressing regularity.