- Jorge Base said that doctors have told him that the chances of reversing the error are minimal
A man woke up to discover he had mistakenly had a vasectomy after being admitted to a hospital for gallbladder surgery in Argentina.
It is believed that the doctors made the mistake by delaying Jorge Base’s surgery by 24 hours from last Tuesday to last Wednesday, which is the day of the week when gallbladder operations are never performed at the medical center.
The 41-year-old told Argentine television channel El Doce: ‘I have three grown-up children… but I dreamed of having a girl.
‘The doctors have already explained to me that the chances of reversing the error are minimal.
‘I feel so angry and helpless. I can’t understand how they made such a mistake when I had gallbladder written all over my medical records.
Jorge base in the hospital. Doctors are believed to have made the mistake after delaying Jorge’s surgery by 24 hours from last Tuesday to last Wednesday, which is the day of the week gallbladder surgeries are never performed at the medical center.
“I would like to find a solution, but the solution that health professionals are giving me is artificial insemination if I want to have another child.”
The medical error occurred at the Florencio Díaz State Hospital in the city of Córdoba, a seven-hour drive northwest of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.
Jorge’s lawyer, Diego Larrey, said: “My client wanted to die when he came to and realized he had had a vasectomy.”
“The hospital ended up performing the gallbladder operation on the same day, which was the only one he should have undergone.
“That operation should have taken place last Tuesday and was rescheduled for the next day at 9 in the morning.”
He added: ‘My client was not asked anything when he arrived at the hospital, which surprised him. They put the gown on him and took him to the operating room.
“A nurse was the one who told him that a mistake had been made when he came to after the operation.
“The confusion apparently occurred because they don’t do gallbladder surgeries at the hospital on Wednesday and he ended up on the vasectomy list by mistake.”
Confirming that Jorge was planning to start a family with his new partner, Mr Larrey said: “No one from the hospital or the local health authority has contacted me.”
The 41-year-old said: ‘I have three grown-up children… but I dreamed of having a girl. The doctors already explained to me that the chances of reversing the error are minimal’ (File photo)
In May of last year, a doctor was ordered to pay child support to a couple in Medellín, Colombia, until their baby turned 18 after performing a botched vasectomy on the father.
The couple, who were not identified, were stunned to discover that the man had gotten the woman pregnant after undergoing a vasectomy at a health clinic.
The father had decided to have the procedure done in 2012 to avoid having more children with his wife because they did not have enough income.
He even underwent an examination at the clinic to verify that the vasectomy had been effective and the clinic confirmed that it was.
But after discovering that his wife was pregnant, the couple, who already had two children, took the doctor and the health clinic to court in 2017.
After a lengthy legal battle during which the parents argued that they had inadvertently become parents again on October 1, 2013 due to an incorrect medical procedure, the judge ruled that the doctor and the health authority in charge of the clinic must pay the legal costs and the child. support for a total of COP 295 million (£59,517) until the baby turns 18 years old.
