A 72-year-old Indian-origin urologist from Florida has been accused of incorrectly performing the vasectomy procedure on his 51-year-old patient.
According to a complaint by the Florida Department of Health, Dilipkumar Patel performed the procedure on the right side of the patient instead of the left side, The Miami Herald reported.
The incident is the first complaint against Patel since being licensed in February 1982.
The complaint said that on June 10, 2022, Patel was supposed to perform a vasectomy on the left side of a man who had already had a vasectomy done on the right side by a different doctor.
“During the procedure, (Patel) conducted a vasectomy of the right side as opposed to the left side,” the complaint read.
A few hours following the procedure, (Patel) noticed the error and told the patient that he had done a vasectomy of the right side instead of the left, The Herald reported, citing the complaint.
During a vasectomy, a small incision or puncture is made in the scrotum to access the vas deferens — the tubes that are the highway for sperm between the testes and penis. The tubes are then cut, sealed, or blocked to prevent sperm from passing through. After the procedure, the incisions are typically closed with stitches or surgical adhesive.
Patel returned neither a phone message left with his office by a Herald reporter nor a response to the email address on his Florida Department of Health profile.