A patient is "progressing well" after being mistaken for another patient, brought into an operating room, and undergoing unnecessary brain surgery.

"The hospital deeply regrets this event and has done all it can to ensure the safety and well-being of the patient in question," read the statement from Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

 

The mix-up involves two patients:  One required surgery to remove a blood clot to his brain, but the other needed only medication for swelling.  The latter patient was brought in for the operation, and the mistake wasn't realized until the surgeon looked around for a bit and determined there was no blood clot to remove.

Health minister Sicily Kariuki suspended the CEO of the Hospital, the surgeon, plus two nurses and an anesthetist pending an investigation.  It's Kenyatta National Hospital's latest in a string of scandals that have included allegations of staff sexually assaulting patients, and the theft of a baby.  The facility is the largest in Kenya, and a teaching hospital for the nation.