Indian doctor mistakes patients, performs wrong surgery

NEW DELHI: A surgeon has been stood down from his post at a New Delhi hospital for performing an unnecessary operation on a patient’s leg after confusing him with another man, an official said Tuesday. The surgeon last week drilled a hole in the right leg of 50-year-old Vijendra Tyagi to insert a pin before realising he had operated on the wrong patient. Tyagi had been admitted to the state-run Sushruta Trauma Centre in the Indian capital with head injuries after a car accident. But he was mistaken for another man who had a broken leg, and underwent surgery to repair a fracture he had not sustained. Hospital medical superintendent Ajay Bahl told AFP the patient was under anaesthesia and could not correct the mistake.