(CNN) – A transplant patient at Methodist Dallas Medical Center was mistakenly given a mismatched kidney last week, the hospital says. As result, Methodist confirms, it has voluntarily suspended its kidney and pancreas donation program.
Through a series of checks and balances in its transplant procedures, the hospital says, the donated kidney was compatible with the unintended recipient and there were no complications. However, the fact that the kidney was given to the wrong person on the organ donation waiting list was not discovered until after the surgery.
“Obviously, the process was not followed correctly and that’s what we want to make sure doesn’t happen again,” said Kathleen Beathard, a Methodist Dallas spokeswoman.
She said the person responsible for the error is no longer with Methodist.
Beathard said, last week, about 330 current patients awaiting transplants and all previous transplant recipients were notified about the error. Currently, 208 patients are considered active. If one of them becomes eligible for a transplant, the surgery can be done at another hospital, Beathard said.
Methodist officials said it has identified the root cause of the error and submitted a corrective action plan to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the transplant waiting list. Beathard said Methodist hopes to resume its kidney transplant program soon.
