GUMMING IT

Here's one medical error that's hard to swallow.

A New Zealand man's false teeth were found stuck in his throat four days after he went into the hospital for back surgery.

The Health and Disability Commission, which investigates medical malpractice and error complaints, reported today that the 81-year-old's upper dentures were removed for the initial operation in 2005, but somehow were put back into the heavily sedated man's mouth.


After complaining in a husky voice of extreme pain and unable to eat, the man was re-examined by doctors who found the dentures lodged in his throat and removed them.

As a result, a cyst in the center of the man's spinal cord pushed on his brain stem, which damaged parts responsible for swallowing and the feeling in the back of his mouth.

The elderly man recovered, but died within a couple of years of unrelated respiratory illness. The commission did not identify the hospital, the town or any of the people involved.

Bet ya relatives are chomping at the bit to make a few bucks off this one.

Photo by Mad Monk