(CBS) ORANGE, Calif. Surgeons at Children's Hospital of Orange County mistakenly removed the wrong side of a child's skull in a surgery to remove a brain tumor.
The operating staff failed to mark the spot on the child's head and did not check patient records to verify they were cutting in the right place, the state report said.
It was the first time a "wrong site surgery" had occurred at the pediatric hospital, Dr. James Cappon, the hospital's patient safety officer, told the Los Angeles Times.
Surgeons realized the error when they could not find the tumor under the left side of the skull and were able to remove the right portion and complete the surgery without complications, according to a report by the state Department of Health Services.
The state report said the mistake may have occurred because a doctor moved the operating table to make room for an assistant surgeon, disorienting the staff, The Times reported.
Afterward, the doctors failed to document the wrong-site surgery in the child's medical records.
The family asked Children's Hospital, which notified the state of the mistake, not to release any other information about the child. The doctors were not identified.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
mmmm my brain is sensing a major lawsuit in the hospital's future 
and some massive firerings!
Surgeons Remove Wrong Side Of Child's Skull
Re: Surgeons Remove Wrong Side Of Child's Skull
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