Anica Kavecic (50), who had no history of gastric problems, went to see her family doctor a few months ago complaining over sharp pain in her stomach.
A biopsy showed that malignant cells had spread throughout her stomach, which was a huge shock for both the patient as well as her doctor. Kavecic was immediately sent to the Ljubljana UKC hospital, where the surgeons removed her stomach.
However, the biggest shock came after the surgery, when the lab examined her stomach and found that it was perfectly healthy.
The daily asked Ales Tomazic, who performed the surgery, whether there was a safety mechanism that could prevent such fatal mistakes. Tomazic explained that UKC Ljubljana, the country's leading hospital, had no such mechanism.
"The only way to prevent such mistakes would be to rerun the tests that had already been preformed by our colleagues in other hospitals. However, this is simply not feasible," Tomazic said.
"The event we're talking about - the swapping of samples - is so rare and unimaginable that I was shocked myself," Tomazic told the daily.
The patient received a EUR 40,000 in damages from the insurance company, she is however renegotiating a higher compensation.
