A man has been permanently scarred after having his jaw accidentally removed when he was meant to have basic dental surgery in an apparent medical blunder.
An unnamed 35-year-old man from Rome, Italy had gone to the Policlinico Umberto I hospital on May 20 to have a wisdom tooth and a cyst in his mouth removed.
Instead, he ended up having major surgery on his jaw which has left him to deal with irreversible damage.
The tragic circumstances unfolded when dentists completed a biopsy on his cyst and somehow got the slides mixed up with another patient who had a malignant osteosarcoma (tumour) in his jawbone.
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The patient in this case, who was reportedly in good health, was shocked when he was handed results that indicated he had a high-grade cancerous growth in June.
Medics told him jaw removal surgery and chemotherapy was urgently needed to treat the aggressive tumour.
He was reportedly 'devastated' by the news and was told he had 'no alternative' but to have a reconstructed implant, where his jaw would be removed, and nine rounds of chemo.
The subsequent operation on July 22 left the patient with permanent damage, including paralysis on the right side of his face, which he said made him feel 'deformed.'
However, a follow-up test in September made for a shocking revelation when doctors said the life-threatening tumour was no longer there and he didn't need the invasive cancer treatment at all.
The man became suspicious of the results and sought a second opinion by having the DNA of his supposed biological material checked out by another lab at the Catholic University of Rome the following month.
The man said: "On October 25, the response arrived, the DNA is not mine," reports L'Unione Sarda.
This confirmed he did not have a deadly cancerous growth at all, meaning the surgery on his jaw was unnecessary.
He is also reportedly worried about the health of the other patient who does have the life-threatening tumour.
"I no longer have a jaw and I don't have the tumor, but someone else is sick. Very sick," he added.
Speaking to the Italian news outlet Corriere della Serra, he also said: "Even now I cannot describe my state of mind. I am alive, I am healthy, I do not have any fatal disease, but I have suffered a great deal."
The man is now seeking compensation for his injuries and has filed a legal complaint against the dental clinic, which is being taken up by the Prosecutor's Office in Rome.
An investigation by prosecutor Eleonara Fini is currently underway to determine how the error was made and who is to blame for it.
The news comes as medical malpractice continues to maim patients across the world.
A 36-year-old Spanish man was left with permanent sexual dysfunction after a hospital botched his surgery on his penis, which saw the man awarded $50,000 in damages.
Meanwhile, a Florida man had to have all his arms and legs amputated after a routine operation to have kidney stones removed took a deadly turn - and a Milwaukee woman intends to sue a hospital after finding medics left a feeding tube inside her body that had given her stomach problems for almost 35 years.
UNILAD has contacted Policlinico Umberto I hospital for comment.
Topics: Health, Europe, World News, Science, Court
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