Ohio Hospital Apologizes For Giving Wrong Patient Kidney Transplant

This is what nightmares are made of and it happened at Cleveland's University Hospital on July 2nd.

Remember the urban legend where a guy wakes up in a bathtub full of ice only to find his kidney was removed?  That's what this reminds me of.  The only major difference is that this took place at a hospital.

It wasn't until they were about to operate on the second patient that the medical professionals at Cleveland's University Hospital realized a huge mistake had been made.  It is unclear the mistake was made.  What is clear is that the first patient in this case received a kidney transplant that was meant for patient #2 according to News 5 Cleveland,

UH won’t confirm how far along the surgery was when the transplant team realized they had the kidney intended for the first patient. UH said the second patient is back on the transplant list awaiting another organ.

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Currently, we have a good news, bad news situation.  The good news is, out of some miracle, patient #1 seems to be accepting the kidney that wasn't meant for them.  Thankfully, the blood types were compatible.  The bad news, patient #2 is back on the kidney waiting list.

Cleveland's University Hospital apologized in a press released obtained by NewsWeek.com,

We have offered our sincerest apologies to these patients and their families. We recognize they entrusted us with their care. The situation is entirely inconsistent with our commitment to helping patients return to health and live life to the fullest.

Newsweek also pointed out the most disheartening part of this story.  The fact is, the United States is in dire need of kidney donors with over 90,000 people currently on a kidney transplant waiting list.