I think they do.....

Before the surgery, the surgeon visited me. We verified verbally which knee we were doing, and finally initialed the knee in marker to ensure we did the right one.

Pretty standard practice these days.

Your response made me laugh!!!

Neither were to remove parts. Two different hospitals. We were marked for surgeries and the Dr and patient both initial the skin.

The other was both knees at once.

Recently I went to my pain clinic for a steroid shot, the nurses said it was to be an ablation of my nerve endings, we argued and I about lost it after an hour of them stating I was getting ablation and not a shot.

I've had three ablations so far, I didn't need another one yet, it's where they zap the nerve endings so they can't transmit pain signals.

There were going to sedate me for the "operation", I told them it would be their last conscious act today.

It turned out in my favor finally.

I shattered my tib/fib in 2004 as a boot top fracture, didn't break the skin and I actually saw it break, not even connected except by skin/muscle and tendons.

In the hospital the day before my operation I noticed through the haze that all my paperwork said LEFT LEG, it was my right that was broken, the next morning paperwork still said left leg, so did the nurse.

I'm zoinked on morphine, I can't get my point across, they hand me the black felt pen and tried to guide my hand to my LEFT LEG, I threw it across the room and asked in a not quiet voice.

Which fucking leg looks broken to you?????, maybe the one swathed in bandages and such????.

I'm sure the Surgeon knew which leg to fix but it was obvious nobody else did.

You really have to express your thoughts on what should be going on to people you're in the care of folks.

In March of last year I woke up in the recovery room after a total left knee replacement.

With ZERO PAIN MEDICATION in my system, and the hits just keep on coming..........

At Duke...

When I had a left ACL repair some years ago, both the surgeon and I initialed the left knee in bright purple sharpie.

every single person involved in the surgery was required to ask me which one.

nuts!

who had the non-cancerous lung removed and was left with only the cancerous one. This was about 34 years ago at a pre-eminent NYC cancer hospital and was the genesis of the joint marking referred to.

!!!

Wait up. He tried that. It apparently did not work.

Reminds me of a quote from another terrifically qualified surgeon. Ben Carson: "Left and right are states of mind".

Mistakes like this happen more than the public knows because they rarely go to trial and in many cases the settlement includes a non-disclosure agreement.
Only once in my 22 years did this(almost) happen during a case which I had been assigned. The patient was positioned, prepped and draped for a chest procedure according to the orders on the chart for the L side. The surgeon entered the OR and immediately blew a gasket, insisting the staff were idiots. He ordered the patient be re-positioned, prepped and draped for the R side.
Not many people know the surgeon is NOT in charge in the OR. The Anesthesiologist is in charge. He put a stop to the whole thing. He and the surgeon nearly came to blows and it wasn't until the OR director called down the legal dept and threatened to call security that the stand-off ended. The patient was awakened and later had surgery by a different surgeon.
Since the action was stopped before a crime could be committed and none of us were called for a deposition, apparently no charges were filed by the patient or his family. I have no idea of the disciplinary action taken by the hospital, but I do know that surgeon when on to practice many years afterward and I, along with others, did everything in our power not to be in a room with him again.

If a woman's mastectomy had cut off the wrong breast or if doctors had removed her only functioning ovary?

upper lip.

After my husband's hip replacement we noticed a big X mark on his hip. What is this? His doctor told us that it was routine practice to mark, before surgery, which hip had to be replaced so they wouldn't make a mistake and perform surgery on the wrong hip.

Smart, and HONEST, Doctor. Want to argue with that? Nope.