What Happens When A Surgeon Cuts The Wrong Organ?

Imagine walking into the operating room for what should be a routine gallbladder removal, trusting your surgeon’s expertise and experience. You wake up hours later, only to discover that the surgeon cut the wrong organ, removing a healthy kidney instead of your diseased gallbladder. This nightmare scenario, while rare, happens more often than patients realize. When medical professionals make such devastating errors, victims face not only physical trauma but also mounting medical bills, lost wages, and emotional distress. If you find yourself in this unthinkable situation, in which a surgeon cuts the wrong organ, a lawsuit may be your path to justice and compensation.

If you or a loved one has suffered harm from a surgical error in Missouri or Kansas, you may pursue a medical malpractice claim. Contact Dempsey Kingsland & Osteen, P.C. Our attorneys have over 40 years of combined experience holding negligent healthcare providers accountable and securing compensation for injured patients and their families. We are committed to advocating for your rights and pursuing the maximum compensation for your losses.

What Is Wrong-Organ Surgery?

Wrong-organ surgery, which includes operating on or removing the incorrect organ, is a serious form of medical negligence. These incidents, known as “Never Events,” are considered entirely preventable and should not occur in any clinical setting.  Common examples of wrong-organ surgical errors include:

• Removing a healthy organ rather than a diseased one,
• Operating on the wrong organ,
• Performing procedures on the incorrect section of an organ, and
• Mistakenly removing healthy reproductive organs.

Despite established safety protocols, such as surgical checklists and pre-operative verification procedures, a surgical error with the wrong organ removed can still occur.

Can You Sue for a Surgical Mistake in Kansas or Missouri?

Both Kansas and Missouri law allow individuals to seek damages from healthcare providers whose negligence results in personal injury or death. To succeed in a medical malpractice claim, you must prove four essential elements:

• Duty of care. A doctor-patient relationship must have existed, giving rise to a legal obligation for the healthcare provider to treat the patient in accordance with established medical standards.
• Breach of duty. The provider must have failed to use the degree of skill and learning ordinarily employed by competent members of their profession under the same or similar circumstances. Operating on the wrong organ is a clear departure from accepted surgical standards.
• Causation. The provider’s breach must have directly caused or substantially contributed to the patient’s injury. In wrong-organ cases, the causal connection between the surgical error and the resulting harm is typically direct.
• Damages. The patient must have suffered actual harm, whether financial, physical, or emotional, as a result of the negligent act.

These four elements form the basis of every medical malpractice claim. Proving them requires a thorough investigation and strong evidence, including medical records, expert testimony, and documentation of related expenses.

What Compensation Is Available?

Patients who have suffered injuries from a wrong-organ removal often face substantial and long-lasting losses. You may be able to recover two types of damages. 

Economic Damages

These cover quantifiable financial losses, including:

• Corrective surgical procedures and hospitalization,
• Lost wages and diminished earning capacity,
• Future medical care and ongoing treatment costs, and
• Rehabilitation and therapy expenses.

Maintain detailed medical records and keep copies of receipts to verify your financial losses.

Noneconomic Damages

These address intangible significant harms, such as:

• Severe pain and suffering,
• Mental anguish and emotional distress, and
• Loss of enjoyment of life.

Both Kansas and Missouri place limits on the amount of noneconomic damages that a plaintiff can recover for a surgical mistake. For personal injury cases in Missouri, the limit is $481,494 regardless of the number of defendants. For cases involving catastrophic personal injury or death, the limit is $842,614.These limits apply collectively to all healthcare provider defendants in the case. Kansas does not cap non-economic damages in non-death cases and only partially caps them in death cases. 

What Is the Statute of Limitations for a Wrong-Organ Medical Malpractice Claim?

In both Missouri and Kansas, medical malpractice claims against physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers generally must be filed within two years of the date of injury.

What Is Missouri’s Affidavit of Merit Requirement?

In most Missouri medical malpractice cases, plaintiffs must file an affidavit of merit within 90 days of initiating the lawsuit. A qualified healthcare professional must certify that the defendant failed to meet the standard of care and that this failure caused harm. This requirement ensures claims are supported by legitimate medical opinion and are not frivolous.

Proving Your Case Using Expert Testimony and Medical Evidence

Due to the technical nature of surgery, expert testimony is generally required in Missouri surgical malpractice cases. Medical experts demonstrate that the surgeon deviated from the accepted standard of care and establish a direct link between that deviation and the patient’s injuries. Building a strong case requires a thorough review of relevant medical documentation. In medical malpractice wrong-organ surgery cases, attorneys and experts typically analyze:

• Pre-operative imaging and diagnostic records,
• Operative and surgical reports,
• Surgical consent forms,
• Post-operative notes and follow-up records, and 
• Documentation of resulting injuries and associated expenses.

Expert testimony is not required to establish the standard of care when the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applies.

The Res Ipsa Loquitur Exception

In certain medical malpractice wrong-organ surgery cases, plaintiffs may use the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. This rule allows a jury to infer negligence from the circumstances of the injury, without requiring identification of a specific negligent act. In Missouri, courts apply a two-step framework for res ipsa claims. First, the judge acts as a gatekeeper, determining whether:

• The incident is the kind ordinarily caused by negligence, and
• The defendant had the right of control over the situation at the relevant time.

“Control” includes both physical possession and the legal right to manage the relevant instrumentality at the time of the alleged negligence. If the judge allows the doctrine, the case proceeds to the jury with instructions permitting an inference of negligence.

Kansas adheres to the traditional res ipsa loquitur doctrine but applies it cautiously in medical malpractice cases. As in Missouri, a jury may infer negligence when the event is the kind that ordinarily does not occur absent negligence, and the defendant had control over the instrumentality. Because surgical care typically involves multiple providers and technical issues beyond lay understanding, Kansas courts often still require expert testimony to establish both causation and the applicable standard of care. The narrow exception is where the facts are within ordinary lay knowledge—for instance, if the physician’s actions are so obviously lacking in reasonable care and the results are so severe that the lack of reasonable care would be apparent to the average person.

Why Legal Representation Matters and How We Can Help

Wrong-organ surgery is a serious and preventable error that can permanently affect a patient’s health, livelihood, and quality of life. Both Kansas law and Missouri law offer a path to justice for victims, but navigating these legal requirements is complex and best handled with professional guidance.

If your surgeon cut the wrong organ, a lawsuit may be your best option to recover the compensation you need to move forward. In this situation, retaining an experienced medical malpractice attorney is essential. At Dempsey Kingsland & Osteen, P.C., our skilled attorneys will conduct a thorough investigation of your case, identify and retain the qualified medical experts needed to establish the standard of care, and work to maximize your malpractice settlement or jury award. 

We believe that justice is not a privilege but a right, and our mission is to make a meaningful, positive difference in the lives of our clients and the broader community we serve. We’re here to fight for the justice and compensation you rightfully deserve and to help you build a brighter future. Contact us today at (816) 421-6868 to discuss your case and take the first step toward the outcome you deserve.

Legal References Used to Inform This Page

To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal and other resources during the content development process:

• Actions against health care and mental health providers (medical malpractice), Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.105 (2018).
• No common law cause of action, Mo. Rev. Stat. §538.210(1) (2018).
• Expert witness, opinion testimony admissible, requirements for certain actions, Mo. Rev. Stat. §490.065 (2018). 
• Affidavit by a health care provider certifying merit of case, Mo. Rev. Stat. §538.225 (2018).
• Sides v. St. Anthony’s Medical Center, 258 S.W.3d 811 (Mo. 2008).
• Actions limited to two years, K.S.A. § 60-513(7)(2025).
• Personal injury action defined; limitation established, K.S.A. § 60-19a02 (2025).
• Hubbard v. Mellion,49 Kan. App. 2d 115, 302 P.3d 1084 (2013).

Rate this Post

Loading...