The medical mix-up is irreversible, doctors reportedly told Jorge Base
An Argentinian man woke up in a hospital bed last week to discover that he had been given a vasectomy by mistake. The victim told local media that he arrived at the hospital for a routine gallbladder removal, but left unable to father the third child he wanted.
41-year-old Jorge Base arrived at the Florencio Diaz Hospital in Cordoba last Tuesday for the gallbladder procedure, but the operation was delayed until the following day. When he regained consciousness, he was told by a nurse that surgeons had assumed he was in for a vasectomy, as the hospital never carries out gallbladder operations on Wednesdays.
“I feel so angry and helpless because there is no going back from what they did,” Base told Argentina’s El Doce TV earlier this week. “Endless questions go through your head. I don’t understand how such negligence can happen. Such a big mistake.”
“It’s very strange because in my folder it said ‘gallbladder’ everywhere, all they had to do was read it, it’s not too scientific,” he added.
Base told El Doce that he already had two sons, but wanted to try for a daughter with his new partner. However, doctors explained to him that the chances of reversing the procedure are minimal. “They told me that because of my age and the size of the duct, it no longer makes sense,” he said, adding that artificial insemination is now his only option for having another child.
After hearing the news, Base then had to stay in hospital and undergo surgery a second time to have his gallbladder removed.
The Ministry of Health told El Doce that the case is under investigation.
