Dramatic affair in Rome, where a serious mistake occurred at the Policlinico Umberto I hospital, where the biopsy slides of two men, one sick and one healthy, were allegedly switched. A 35-year-old man, who was misdiagnosed as having a highly malignant tumor, underwent surgery that involved the removal of his jawbone. As a result of the operation, the man suffered facial paresis. The fate of the other person involved is not yet known. The affair, reported by the paper Corriere della Sera, is being investigated by prosecutor Eleonora Fini, following a serious injury complaint filed by the 35-year-old man. The situation began on May 20, 2024, when the patient went to the Polyclinic's dental clinic for the removal of a wisdom tooth and a cyst, which was later sent to the laboratory for analysis. "On June 10, they told me on the phone that the test was positive," the man recounted. Then, on June 18, he is notified that he has a high-grade osteosarcoma of malignancy, a devastating diagnosis that led to immediate scheduling of surgery to demolish the jawbone and nine rounds of chemotherapy. On July 22, the man underwent an operation to implant a plate to reconstruct the removed bone. Upon waking up, however, he realizes that the right side of his face was paralyzed. "When I woke up, the right side of my face was paralyzed. Like deformed," he recounts. Only on September 9, with a new histological examination on the removed bone, did he receive the news that "it was negative". "My partner and I remained confused. They told me I was lucky to have had surgery in time and the tumor did not take root," he continues. Following these revelations, the 35-year-old decided to take the slides to a laboratory at the Catholic University of Rome. "On October 25, the response: the DNA was not mine. I no longer have the jawbone. But I don't have the tumor. Someone else is sick instead. Very sick," he painfully concludes.
|