The decision to suspend Rockhampton surgeon Antonio Vega Vega has been set aside. Source: Supplied
ROCKHAMPTON surgeon Dr Antonio Vega Vega, who removed the wrong kidney when operating on a patient, will be allowed to practice without any conditions.
“In my view Dr Vega Vega does not pose a serious risk to persons,” Judge Alexander Hornemann-Wren said in Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
“The surgery which he and others perform does pose a risk to persons, often a serious risk.”
Spanish-trained urologist Dr Vega Vega removed a Rockhampton Hospital patient’s right kidney instead of the left on January 22, sparking a Medical Board investigation.
The patient had a contorted spine and an anatomy so abnormal both kidneys may have been positioned on one side of the body, the tribunal heard.
Judge Hornemann-Wren said he took into account the evidence of Dr Simon Wood, director of urology at Princess Alexandra Hospital, who spoke highly of Dr Vega Vega.
Dr Wood did not believe the Rockhampton urologist posed a serious risk to patients.
The judge said Dr Wood said that if he or one of his colleagues had performed the same surgery, even with the most experienced Brisbane surgeons, he could not say the outcome would have been different.
“He knows from personal experience that the removal of the wrong organ … due to disorientation, due to abnormal anatomy, has certainly happened in highly regarded tertiary referral centres in Brisbane in recent times,” the judge said.
Judge Hornemann-Wren set aside a May 9 decision by the Medical Board of Australia to suspend Dr Vega Vega and also set aside conditions imposed by the board.
After the decision Dr Vega Vega’s barrister Stephen Keim said: “Dr Vega Vega of course would be gratified by the decision.”
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