A doctor at a Mexican public hospital mistakenly amputated the right leg of an elderly patient who had sought treatment for an infection in his left foot, the patient's family said today.
Seeking treatment for a foot wound aggravated by diabetes, Alberto Lopez, 74, was admitted to a hospital in Tuxtla Gutierrez, south of Mexico City, and underwent surgery on Friday.
But the patient emerged from surgery without a right leg - and still suffering from the original infection - according to family members who filed a complaint today with the state attorney-general's office and a national medical arbitration commission.
Lopez had not yet been notified that the wrong limb was amputated unnecessarily, said his his daughter Esperanza Lopez.
start your day off on the right foot :)