VARANASI, April 16 -- A surgeon's knife paused midway through an operation at Trauma Centre, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (IMS-BHU), on March 7 when a shocking discovery emerged: the wrong patient lay on the table. A name mismatch had led the orthopaedics team to operate on a 71-year-old's leg instead of her spine.

The confusion arose because two patients with identical names were admitted to different departments, Radhika Devi, 71, in neurosurgery and Radhika Devi, 82, in orthopaedics with a fractured leg.

The surgery was immediately halted when an incision revealed normal bone tissue rather than the expected spinal condition. The patient was shifted to the neurosurgery department.

A correct spinal surgery w...