Surgeon removes woman's kidney during back surgery after mistaking it for cancerous tumor
![GETTY_surgeon medical tools_110618_1541519785732.png-402429.jpg](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox5atlanta.com/www.fox5atlanta.com/content/uploads/2019/09/764/432/GETTY_surgeon20medical20tools_110618_1541519785732.png_6348721_ver1.0_640_360.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
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FOX NEWS - A Florida surgeon mistook a woman’s healthy kidney for a cancerous tumor — and inexplicably removed it during a routine back surgery, according to a report.
Maureen Pacheco, then 51, checked into Wellington Regional Medical Center back in April 2016 to get the bones in her lower back fused in the wake of a car accident, The Palm Beach Post reported.
During the operation, Dr. Ramon Vazquez spotted the organ — which he believed to be a tumor, declared an emergency and removed it, according to a lawsuit obtained by the paper that was settled in September.
Pacheco never had a say in the matter, according to the lawsuit.