5 Unbelievable Medical Mistakes (PART 1)

Received the wrong heart and lungs, then died

17-year-old Jésica Santillán died 2 weeks after receiving the heart and lungs of a patient whose blood type did not match hers. Doctors at the Duke University Medical Center failed to check the compatibility before surgery began. . After a rare second transplant operation to attempt to rectify the error, she suffered brain damage and complications that subsequently hastened her death.

Santillán, a Mexican immigrant, had come to the United States three years before to seek medical treatment for a life-threatening heart condition. The heart-lung transplant that surgeons at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C., hoped would improve this condition instead put her in greater danger; Santillán, who had type-O blood, had received the organs from a type-A donor.

The error sent the patient into a comalike state, and she died shortly after an attempt to switch the organs back out for compatible ones failed. The hospital blamed human error for the death, along with a lack of safeguards to ensure a compatible transplant. According to reports, Duke reached an agreement on an undisclosed settlement with the family. Neither the hospital nor the family is allowed to comment on the case.

A $200,000 testicle

In yet another case of a wrongful operation, surgeons mistakenly removed the healthy right testicle of 47-year-old Air Force veteran Benjamin Houghton. The patient had been complaining of pain and shrinkage of his left testicle so doctors decided to schedule surgery to remove it due to cancer fears. However, the veteran's medical records suggest a series of missteps -- from an error on the consent form to a failure on the part of medical personnel to mark the proper surgical site before the procedure. The error, which took place at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, spurred a $200,000 lawsuit from Houghton and his wife.

A 13-Inch souvenir

Donald Church, 49, had a tumor in his abdomen when he arrived at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle in June 2000. When he left, the tumor was gone -- but a metal retractor had taken its place. Doctors admitted to leaving the 13-inch-long retractor in Church's abdomen by mistake. It was not the first such incident at the medical center; four other such occurrences had been documented at the hospital between 1997 and 2000. Fortunately, surgeons were able to remove the retractor shortly after it was discovered, and Church experienced no long-term health consequences from the mistake. The hospital agreed to pay Church $97,000.

An open heart invasive procedure... on the wrong patient

Joan Morris (a pseudonym) is a 67-year-old woman admitted to a teaching hospital for cerebral angiography. The day after that procedure, she mistakenly underwent an invasive cardiac electrophysiology study. After angiography, the patient was transferred to another floor rather than returning to her original bed. Discharge was planned for the following day. The next morning, however, the patient was taken for a open heart procedure. The patient had been on the operating table for an hour. Doctors had made an incision in her groin, punctured an artery, threaded in a tube and snaked it up into her heart (a procedure with risks of bleeding, infection, heart attack and stroke). That was when the phone rang and a doctor from another department asked “what are you doing with my patient?” There was nothing wrong with her heart. The cardiologist working on the woman checked her chart, and saw that he was making an awful mistake. The study was aborted, and she was returned to her room in stable condition.

The Fertility Clinic that used the wrong sperm

When Nancy Andrews, of Commack, N.Y., became pregnant after an in vitro fertilization procedure at a New York fertility clinic, she and her husband expected a beautiful new addition to their family. What they did not expect was a child whose skin was significantly darker than that of either parent. Subsequent DNA tests suggested that doctors at New York Medical Services for Reproductive Medicine accidentally used another man's sperm to inseminate Nancy Andrews' eggs.

The couple has since raised Baby Jessica, who was born Oct. 19, 2004, as their own, according to wire reports. But the couple still filed a malpractice suit against the owner of the clinic, as well as the embryologist who allegedly mixed up the samples.

10 Most Bizarre Gaming Incidents

Woman was virtually raped in Second Life

A Belgian user of Second Life was forced, by using a so called “voodoo doll” --a piece of code that takes the form of a regular object as a cup or pen or whatever but in fact gives control of your avatar-- to perform sexually explicit behavior. In theory, a user must give his consent in order for other player to take control of his avatar, but using one of the above mentioned voodoo dolls and some persuasion you can make a user (especially a new one) to give access to his avatar. After the incident, Brussels' public prosecutor asked patrol detectives of the Federal Computer Crime Unit to go on Second Life to investigate the “virtual rape”.

Boy saves his sister from a moose attack with skills learned from World of Warcraft

A 12 year-old Norwegian boy saved his sister and himself from a moose attack using skills he picked up in the online role playing game 'World of Warcraft.' Hans Jurgen Olsen and his sister got into a spot of trouble when they encroached on the territory of one of these antlered cold weather staples (otherwise known as a moose). When the beast went on the offensive, Hans knew the first thing he had to do was taunt it so that it would leave his sister alone and she could run to safety. "Taunting" is a move one uses in World of Warcraft to get monsters off of the less-well-armored team members.

Once he was a target, Hans remember another skill he'd picked up at level 30 in 'World of Warcraft' -- he feigned death. The moose lost interest in the inanimate Hans and wandered off into the woods. When he was safely alone Hans ran back home to share his tale of video game-inspired survival.

Korean dies after game session

A South Korean man died in 2007 after reportedly playing an online computer game for 50 hours with few breaks. The 28-year-old man collapsed after playing the game Starcraft at an internet cafe in the city of Taegu, according to South Korean authorities.

The man had not slept properly, and had eaten very little during his marathon session, said police. Identified as Lee, he started playing Starcraft and only paused playing to go to the toilet and for short periods of sleep.

The cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion. He was taken to hospital following his collapse, but died shortly after. He had recently been fired from his job because he kept missing work to play computer games.

Teenager gets DVT after a whole day with a console

A boy who spent an entire day kneeling down playing computer games needed hospital treatment for a blood clot in his leg. Dominic Patrick, 14, from Merseyside, developed deep vein thrombosis after a rainy day inside with a games console. The potentially dangerous condition was caused because Dominic had his legs tucked under his body.

Dominic noticed something was wrong when, after getting up from playing games all day, he got pins and needles in his legs and one of his calves swelled up. When this failed to go away, his father initially put it down to "growing pains", but eventually took him to a doctor, who diagnosed DVT.

Player of Legends of Mir 3 stabs fellow gamer to death

In March 2005, a Chinese man was stabbed to death in a row over a sword in online game Legends of Mir 3. Shanghai gamer Qiu Chengwei killed player Zhu Caoyuan when he discovered he had sold a "dragon sabre" he had been loaned. Mr Chengwei only got the powerful virtual weapon shortly before it was sold for 7,200 yuan (£460). Before the attack Mr Chengwei told the police about the theft but had no response since the police said the weapon was not real property. The online gamer has been given a suspended death sentence for his crime.

Living on the Edge: 5 Clifftop Towns

Santorini (Greece): a 300 meter (984 ft) high paradise

Located about 200 km southeast from Greece's mainland, the archipelago of Santorini is essentially what remains of an enormous volcanic explosion, destroying the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island, and leading to the creation of the current geological caldera. Its spectacular physical beauty, along with a dynamic nightlife, have made the island one of Europe's tourist hotspots. The Minoan eruption, which occurred some 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization, left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash deposits hundreds of feet deep and may have led indirectly to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 110 km (70 miles) to the south, through the creation of a gigantic tsunami. The giant central lagoon, more or less rectangular, mesures about 12 km by 7 km (8 mi by 4 mi) and is surrounded by 300 m (984 ft) high steep cliffs on three sides.

Ronda (Spain): divided by a 100-meter deep canyon

Located in a very mountainous area about 750 metres (2,500 ft) above mean sea level, Ronda is a clifftop town in the spanish province of Malaga. "El Tajo", a 100-meter deep canyon, separates the old town form the new one, leaving some of the buildings and houses right on the edge of abyss. Going from one side to the other is possible, as the canyon is spanned by three bridges, each built in a different historical age: Roman, Moorish and 18th Century.

Castellfolit de la Roca (Spain): situated on a 50 meters (164 ft) high basalt crag

A municipality in Catalonia, Spain, Castellfollit de la Roca is bordered by the confluence of the Fluvià and Toronell rivers, between which the town's basalt cliff rises. The basalt crag where the town is situated is over 50 meters high and almost a kilometre long. It was formed by the overlaying of two lava flows and it is one of the smallest towns in the province.

Manarola (Italy): Italy's most precariously placed town

Located in Liguria, Manarola is certainly one of Italy's most precariously placed towns. It’s hard to say just how old this village is, but ancient Roman texts have been found which celebrated the wines produced there. Today, you can still enjoy strolls through the vineyards, a walk on the Via dell’Amore (Path of Love) and its brightly colored buildings just near the edge.

Bonifacio (Corsica): 70 meters (230 ft) over the Mediterranean Sea

At the southern tip of the island of Corsica, Bonifacio is the largest commune of the island. This fragile looking citadel sits precariously at 70 meters (230 ft) over the white limestone cliffs, eaten away by the wind and waves of the Mediterranean Sea. A naval haven throughout the century, Bonifacio is now a small marina for expensive yachts from around the world.

10 Most Frightening Torture Techniques from the Middle Ages

The Breaking Wheel: Designed to render vicitim’s limbs useless

Also called The Catherine Wheel, this device always killed its victim, but did so very slowly. The victim's limbs were tied to the spokes of a large wooden wheel. The wheel was then slowly revolved while the torturer smashed the victims’ limbs with an iron hammer, breaking them in many places.

Once his bones were broken, he was left on the wheel to die. Sometimes the wheel was placed on a tall pole so birds could pick and eat the flesh of the still-living human. It could take up to two or three days for him to die of dehydration.

Sometimes it was 'mercifully' ordered that the executioner strike the criminal on the chest and stomach, blows known as the coups de grâce (French: "blow of mercy"), which caused lethal injuries, leading to the end of the death by torture.

The Knee Splitter: Severs the knees and other limbs

Another tool favoured by the Spanish Inquisition because of its versatility, was the knee splitter. It was a vice-like instrument with sharp spikes outfitted on both sides of the grip. As the torturer turned the handle, the claws slowly squeezed against each other mutilating and penetrating the skin and bones of the knee. Although its use rarely resulted in death, the effect was to render the knees completely useless. It was also used on other body parts including elbows, arms and even the lower legs.

The number of spikes the knee splitter contained varied from three to more than twenty. Some claws were heated beforehand to maximize pain - others had dozens of small claws that penetrated the flesh slowly and painfully.

Saw Torture: Common saw cuts victim in half

Saws were was common torture devices because they were readily found in most houses and no complex devices were required. It was a cheap way to torture and kill a victim accused of witchery, adultery, murder, blasphemy or even theft.

The victim was tied upside down, allowing blood to be diverted to the brain. This ensured that the victim maintained consciousness for as long as possible, it slowed the loss of blood and caused maximum humiliation. The torture could last several hours.

While some victims were cut completely in half as a symbolic gesture, most were only cut up to their abdomen to prolong the time it took to die.

The Rack: designed to dislocate every joint in its victim’s body

Who could forget the dreaded rack, commonly believed to be the most painful form of medieval torture? It consisted of a wooden frame usually with two ropes fixed to the bottom and another two tied to a handle in the top. As the torturer turned the handle, the ropes would pull the victim's arms, eventually dislocating bones with a loud crack. If the torturer kept turning the handles (they often went too far) some of the limbs were torn right off the body.

In the later Middle Ages, a new variant of rack appeared. Spikes were added that penetrated the victim's back when he or she were forced to lie on table. As the limbs were pulled apart, so was the spinal cord, increasing not only the physical pain, but the psychological pain of knowing that, even if he or she were to survive, mobility of any kind would be lost forever.

The Pear of Anguish: Rips orifices, dislocates jaw bones

This brutal instrument was used to torture women who performed abortions, liars, blasphemers and homosexuals. The pear-shaped instrument was inserted into one of the victim's orifices: the vagina for women, the anus for homosexuals and the mouth for liars and blasphemers.

The instrument consisted of four leaves that slowly separated from each other as the torturer turned the screw at the top. The device would tear the skin at the very least or expand to mutilate the victim’s orifice. It could dislocated or break the jawbones

Pears of Anguish still in existence are lavishly engraved or adorned to differentiate between the anal, vaginal and oral pears. This torture rarely brought death, but was often followed by other torture methods.

Judas Cradle: The victim’s orifice is painfully stretched, flesh ripped

The Judas Cradle was perhaps a little less sadistic than impalement but still gruesome. The victim’s anus or vagina would be placed over the point of the pyramid-shaped cradle, then lowered on it by ropes. The intended effect was to stretch the orifice over a long period of time, or to slowly impale.

The victim was usually naked, adding to the overall humiliation of the torture and sometimes weights were added to the legs to increase the pain and hasten death. This torture could last anywhere from a few hours to complete days. The device was rarely washed, so the victim could also be plagued with a painful infection.

Impalement: A sharp pole is pushed, bottom upwards, through the victim’s body

If you were Vlad the Impaler (more commonly known as Dracula) of 15th century Romania, you simply impaled your victims by forcing them to sit on a sharp and thick pole. The pole was then raised upright and the victim was left to slide further down the pole by his or her own weight.

Often, the pole would emerge through the sternum so that its tip could be placed under the chin to prevent further sliding. It could take the victim three days to die. Vlad did this to between 20,000 and 300,000. It is said he enjoyed having a meal while watching impalements.

The Head Crusher: Compresses the skull, shatters teeth, squeezes out the eyes

The head crusher was a popular torture method used by the Spanish Inquisition, among other users. The chin was placed over a bottom bar and the head under an upper cap. The torturer slowly turned the screw, pressing the bar against the cap. The head was then slowly compressed, first shattering the teeth into the jaw, then a slow death with agonizing pain. Some variants of this device included small containers that received the eyeballs as they were squeezed out of the victims’ eye sockets.

This instrument was an effective way to extract confessions, as the period of pain could be prolonged for many hours if the torturer chose to. If the torture was stopped midway, the victim often had irreparable damage done to the brain, jaw or eyes.

Coffin Torture: Torture in a metal cage, pecked at by preying birds

The Coffin Torture was feared in the Middle Ages, and is often seen in films depicting the time (see Monty Python’s Holy Grail). The victim was placed inside a metal cage roughly made in the shape of the human body. Torturers could force overweight victims into a smaller device, or even make the "coffin" slightly larger than a victim’s body to make him more uncomfortable. The cage was frequently hung from a tree or a gallows.

Serious crimes, such as heresy or blasphemy, were punished by death inside the coffin where the victim was placed under the sun allowing birds or animals to eat his or her flesh. Sometimes onlookers would throw rocks and other objects to further increase the pain.

The Breast Ripper: Painfully tears and mutilates a woman’s breast

Used as a horrible punishment for women, the breast ripper was used to inflict pain, blood loss and the mutilation of their breasts. It was usually used for women accused of conducting abortions or of adultery.

The claws were often placed, red hot, on the victim's exposed breasts, the spikes penetrating to achieve a powerful grasp. They were then pulled to rip off or shred the breasts. If the victim wasn't killed she would be scarred for life as her breasts were literally torn apart.

A common variant was known as "The Spider," which is a similar instrument attached to a wall. The victim's breasts were fixed to the claws and the woman was pulled by the torturer away from the wall, removing or mutilating them. This was a brutal punishment that often resulted in the victim's death.