California hospital fined after taking out a woman’s ovaries by accident

A hospital in California is being sued for the accidental removal of a woman’s ovaries. The Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, Calif., has been fined $47,450 by health officials, reported Catherine Ho of SFGate.com.

Doctors at Sequoia were supposed to remove the patient’s appendix, fallopian tubes, and uterus during surgery in February 2016; however, due to a mistake in the hospital’s surgical schedule, the patient’s ovaries were taken out. The patient, according to the report by the California Department of Public Health, will require lifelong estrogen replacement therapy as a result. The report did not mention the patient’s name and age, nor did it mention if the ovaries were removed instead of, or in addition to, the appendix, fallopian tubes, and uterus.