Tuen Mun Hospital announces missing specimen incident
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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The spokesperson for Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) made the following announcement today (April 1) regarding a missing specimen incident:

     A female patient had an ultrasound guided biopsy procedure performed in TMH on March 30 to collect a breast tissue specimen for pathological examination, helping a doctor to conduct diagnosis and formulate a treatment plan.

     According to the medical record, a specimen was successfully collected by a radiologist during the procedure and a specimen X-ray record was undergone. The specimen bottle was then sent to the Pok Oi Hospital Pathology laboratory in the same afternoon. A staff member discovered that no specimen was found in the specimen bottle while preparing for examination and subsequently reported the incident to a supervisor and relevant departments. An immediate search was conducted but it was in vain.

     TMH met with the patient and relatives concerned today to explain the incident and express apologies. The patient has been arranged to undergo another biopsy procedure this month and the medical team will continue to closely monitor her condition. The hospital is very concerned about the incident and has reported it to the Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advance Incident Reporting System. The hospital will investigate the incident accordingly.

Ends/Friday, April 1, 2022
Issued at HKT 20:53

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