Tennessee Hospital under Fire after Performing Surgery on Wrong Infant

Nothing is horrifying for a surgeon than performing a wrong surgery on a patient, but Tennessee hospital doctors committed the mistake during a major surgery. A local mother alleged that the doctors performed a surgery on her newborn that was actually meant for another baby.

According to Jennifer Melton, mother of little Nate, she thought the team of doctors was taking her baby for a typical exam, but just a few hours after Nate took birth, they performed a tongue clipping procedure, Frenulectomy, on him. The surgery was meant for another infant, said Melton. Now, the mother has planned to sue the hospital for the wrongful procedure.

Frenulectomy is a procedure which involves clipping a flap of skin that links a person’s tongue and mouth to allow freer range of motion.

The mother and Melton family said that Nate was healthy when he took birth at the Tennessee hospital. A few hours after the birth, doctors took him away for few hours. The family thought it was just a part of a routine evaluation that doctors do to all newborns. They came to know about the surgery when a nurse appeared in Jennifer Melton's room and told about the procedure.

They believe the hospital confused newborn Nate with another baby. Clint Kelly, an attorney hired by the Melton family said, “It’s recklessness. There's no excuse for cutting on a healthy child. There's no excuse for mixing up babies at a hospital”.

There are reports that the doctor who performed the surgery has accepted his mistake. He said that he had asked for the wrong infant. The procedure was meant for another baby, the doctor said while admitting his mistake.

Now, Melton family is worried because they don’t know whether Nate will have complications from the unneeded surgery.