A physician at University Medical Center in Lebanon, Tenn., mixed up newborn babies and performed a procedure on the wrong infant, according to a report from WTVF.
The physician, who has not been named, admitted in a hospital report obtained by WTVF that he mixed up the babies. "I had asked for the wrong infant," he wrote, according to the report. "I had likely performed the procedure on an infant different than the one I intended to … and I admitted my mistake and apologized."
The physician had performed a frenulectomy — a procedure that involves cutting a flap of skin from beneath the tongue. This procedure is performed on infants born with a condition that restricts the tongue's range of motion — a procedure Jennifer Melton's baby did not require.
Ms. Melton's attorney Clint Kelly categorized the physician's actions as reckless and inexcusable.
The University Medical Center declined to comment to WTVF on the incident due to federal privacy regulations.
According to the Joint Commission, wrong-patient, wrong-site and wrong-procedure were the second most common sentinel event reported in 2015.