DES MOINES – Apparently, if you are going into surgery, it might be a smart idea to make sure your doctor knows exactly where to cut you.
Tuvi Mendel, M.D., a 49-year-old Iowa-licensed physician who practices orthopedic surgery in Davenport, Iowa, entered into a combined Statement of Charges and Settlement Agreement on August 8, 2014. The Iowa Board of Medicine charged Dr. Mendel with inadvertently performing surgery on a patient’s left ankle when the patient was scheduled to undergo surgery on the right ankle. Dr. Mendel recognized the error after he completed the procedure and immediately informed the patient and her family about the error. The patient chose to undergo surgery on the right ankle as well.
Under the terms of the August 8, 2014, combined Statement of Charges and Settlement Agreement, the Board issued Dr. Mendel a Citation and Warning and ordered him to pay a $2,500 civil penalty and he submitted a written corrective action plan which describes the steps he has taken to avoid such errors in the future.
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