# Man dies from "splenectomy" where they removed his LIVER instead! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 6, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842 "2024-09-06T02:06:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/161 "2026-04-16T14:50:07Z")
Good bet if you were gonna have a problem, you’d have known about it by now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/162 "2026-04-16T14:54:43Z")
If you could pass as an extra on the Simpsons, that’s a good sign. Or bad. I forget which ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/163 "2026-04-16T15:12:36Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I’m sure we all knew some truly stupid or incapable people who did enough to pass exams and get through school. With thousands of students going through medical school and onto their residencies each year, it’s nearly impossible to guarantee all the ones who get through the process actually know their stuff vs the ones who did just enough to pass. Or as the old joke goes… What do you call the person who graduated at the very bottom of their class in medical school? Doctor ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/164 "2026-04-16T16:08:18Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I have no idea how the training for an osteopathic doctor varies My father was a DO. Back in his day there was a bit of a stigma against DOs, as if they were somehow inferior to MDs, but he took exactly the same classes and had the exact same training as an MD. As a DO he had some additional training that an MD did not have, specifically things like hypnosis and chiropracty. My cousin (who coincidentally is named after my father) followed in his footsteps, also became a DO, and is now one of the country’s top cardiologists specializing in heart failure and heart transplant surgery. These days the stigma against DOs seems to be gone. Everyone seems to recognize that they get the same training as an MD. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/165 "2026-04-16T16:10:38Z")
Necroed from September '24. Did the patient also revive? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/166 "2026-04-16T16:11:14Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It was once more of an “alternative medicine” and still is in many parts of the world, but since the middle of the 20th century it has shifted to be closer to regular medicine in the US, to the point where it’s practically the same thing as an MD.. For sure. At our family doctors, when I glance at the diplomas I see a mix of MDs and DOs, and it makes no difference to us who sees us. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/167 "2026-04-16T16:12:03Z")
That doctor was so bad, when encountering a diseased finger he decided to take the whole foot. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/168 "2026-04-16T16:13:18Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > One has to wonder about the nurses and the anesthesiologist and the support staff who were with him in the room, and why they didn’t do anything. I feel like there are a lot of accessories to this crime. I don’t know how much of this is still true, but my sister worked over 40 years in hospitals. One thing that she learned very early – NEVER contradict a doctor. Doctors ruled the hospital and it would be your job on the line if you crossed one. That attitude could still persist in some places. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/169 "2026-04-16T16:13:33Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > These days the stigma against DOs seems to be gone. Everyone seems to recognize that they get the same training as an MD. This doctor might revive the stigma. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/170 "2026-04-16T16:17:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > This doctor might revive the stigma. If Florida doctors have the ability to single-handedly ruin the reputation of their medical degrees, medicine is doomed. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/171 "2026-04-16T16:28:09Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > But it’s also easy to imagine how a surgeon could remove the wrong limb. It’s frankly really hard to imagine how a surgeon could confuse a liver with a spleen. I’ve dissected mammals. The organs… look different and are in different places. They also _smell_ different. That’s not something that is discussed much but a mammal liver smells like a mammal liver. We all know what liver smells like, right? Spleens don’t smell like that. I don’t expect the OR folks to go face down in removed tissue specimens but you don’t need to be Logan/Wolverine to whiff the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/172 "2026-04-16T16:49:45Z")
If you’ve lived for years without a liver, the entire medical establishment would like to know how. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/173 "2026-04-16T16:53:32Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That doctor was so bad, when encountering a diseased finger he decided to take the whole foot. And it was the wrong foot. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/174 "2026-04-16T16:54:40Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > They also _smell_ different. I would think that by the time the organs are far enough apart that you can smell one but not the other, it’s already too late. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/175 "2026-04-16T17:53:25Z")
but this is the second patient he “killed” so that should have raised red flags; even though he wasn’t ‘employed’ by them. people will now look askance at the hospital itself ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/176 "2026-04-16T18:06:50Z")
As with commercial flight cockpits, the culture has changed in ORs - the pilot/surgeon is supposed to listen to “underlings” noting problems. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/177 "2026-04-16T18:37:01Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > it was the wrong foot. It was also the wrong patient. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/178 "2026-04-16T20:35:49Z")
Glad to hear it. It used to be a pretty toxic environment if you had some bad doctors. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/179 "2026-04-16T22:22:56Z")
Many doctors are contracted employees; I’ll leave further details to people who know more about this than I do. Nowadays, the DO and MD programs are very similar, the main difference being which school the person attended. A DO is fine for people who want to pursue family practice, while and MD is almost required to this day for people who want to pursue more specialized or academic medicine. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842/180 "2026-04-16T22:28:21Z")
Back in my hospital-pharmacy days, we kept a single dose of the pneumococcal vaccine available at the time on hand for splenectomy patients. One evening, we got two orders - one for a trauma patient, another who had their spleen removed due to cancer - and my judgment was to give the immediate dose to the cancer patient, and let the floor know that the trauma patient, who was otherwise healthy, would get it a day or two later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dies-from-splenectomy-where-they-removed-his-liver-instead/1006842.md?page=10)