‘The Curious Case Of Two Jagdishes’: Elderly Man Undergoes Unnecessary Surgery Due To Name Confusion in Rajasthan

A name mix-up at Kota’s Government Medical College led to a shocking incident where a father, attending to his injured son, was mistakenly taken for surgery. A probe is now underway.

‘The Curious Case Of Two Jagdishes’: Elderly Man Undergoes Unnecessary Surgery Due to Name Confusion in Rajasthan

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Same-name confusion is one of those everyday problems that can follow people through school, college, work—and, as it turns out, even hospitals. It’s a natural human reaction to look up or raise a hand when you hear your name called. But for 60-year-old Jagdish, this simple reflex turned dangerous when he ended up in an operation theatre—by mistake.

In a shocking incident at the Government Medical College in Kota, Jagdish, who was at the hospital to attend to his injured son, was mistakenly taken in for surgery due to a name mix-up.

His son, Manish, had been admitted after a leg injury and was scheduled for surgery on April 12. While Manish was being taken into the operating room, Jagdish—who has difficulty speaking following a stroke—was waiting outside. At that moment, staff from the cardiothoracic and vascular surgery department called out the name "Jagdish." The elderly man instinctively raised his hand, and before he could explain, he was taken into a different operation theatre.

Despite his efforts to communicate that he was not the patient, the staff proceeded to create a dialysis fistula—a surgical connection between an artery and a vein used for dialysis—on his left arm. The mistake was discovered only when the operating doctor entered and questioned the patient's identity. The procedure was immediately stopped, and Jagdish’s wound was dressed.

Manish, now recovering in a ward with his leg in a cast, was shocked to learn what had happened.

"My father was taken outside when I was taken for the surgery. When I was brought out of the operation theatre after surgery, I did not see him. I was brought to the ward and I told the staff that I didn't find my father. Someone said he has been taken for an operation. I asked what operation, he is with me," Manish said. He added that "the hospital authorities must take action for those behind this mix-up."

The hospital has launched a probe into the incident. "As soon as I was made aware of the procedure, I asked for a three-member committee to be set up that would investigate the matter and submit a report within 48 hours," said Dr. Sangeeta Saxena, Principal of the medical college.