A Harvard-trained general surgeon who mistook a kidney for a gallbladder during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy has been fined $5,000 by the Florida Board of Medicine.

Bernard Zaragoza, MD, of Coral Springs, Fla., will also have to serve 50 hours of community service and must reimburse the state of Florida $25,000 for its investigation into the medical error, which occurred in October 2007 at Northwest Medical Center in Margate, Fla., according to a news report.

The patient, an 83-year-old man, had unusual anatomy and abdominal scar tissue from previous surgeries that made it difficult to see and access the gallbladder. As a result, Dr. Zaragoza had to access the gallbladder from a peculiar angle. He did not know that he'd removed the kidney until it was out of the patient's body. The patient died of heart failure 3 weeks later.

"I was completely mortified," Dr. Zaragoza told Health News Florida. "It's a complication I never heard of, dreamed of or imagined could happen." Efforts to reach Dr. Zaragoza for comment were unsuccessful.

In the hearing, the surgeon's attorney argued that in a difficult procedure such as this, mistaking the kidney for a gallbladder should be considered a complication of surgery, which would not be punishable. The board, however, disagreed and ruled that it was a medical error and a violation of the state's Medical Practice Act.

Yet the board apparently sympathized with Dr. Zaragosa. A board member said that he still felt comfortable with the surgeon's abilities and would even let Dr. Zaragoza operate on his own family members.

Kent Steinriede

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