An Indian-trained surgeon dubbed “Dr Death” by his Australian colleagues performed the wrong operation on a patient after two men were admitted with the same first name. When two male patients called Paul were admitted to Bundaberg Base Hospital in June 2003, doctor Jayant Patel operated on the wrong one, Jennifer White, a nurse from the Queensland state hospital, told the inquiry on Wednesday.One man, whom Patel had never met, was given a gastroscopy and had a tube placed down his throat instead of having an operation on his scrotum, she said."From 1974 until that day, I had never experienced any patient having an incorrect procedure,” Australian Associated Press quoted White as saying.White also said that Patel once rushed off to a car accident near the hospital to perform a roadside amputation without taking anaesthetic or drugs to use on the patient.The injured person was transferred to hospital by ambulance before Patel arrived at the scene.Patel has been linked to the deaths of least 87 people and inquiry head Tony Morris released an interim report earlier this month recommending the surgeon be charged with murder and fraud.Australian police launched an international manhunt.The Australian newspaper reported that Patel has been sighted in Portland, Oregon.
