Surgeons at USC University Hospital accidentally transplanted a kidney into the wrong patient earlier this year because the system used to verify organs was flawed, the head of the transplant program said Tuesday. Once the wrong organ identification number ended up on a key piece of paperwork in the operating room, there was nothing to prevent surgeons from proceeding with the transplant, said Cynthia Herrington, MD, medical director of the USC Transplant Institute. Her comments came as the hospital announced that it was restarting kidney transplants with new safeguards in place, more than two months after closing the program to investigate the Jan. 29 mix-up.
