Surgeon accused of removing wrong kidney

LONDON, May 22 (UPI) -- A British surgeon is accused of removing the wrong kidney from a patient.

The London Mirror said Dr. Jerome Blanchard, who works at University College Hospital in North London, allegedly failed to read the patient's medical records "adequately or at all."

Blanchard, who qualified as a doctor in France in 1991 and has been a surgeon for three years, went before the General Medical Council Monday, the newspaper said.

Britain's National Patient Safety Agency issued new guidelines last year to make sure surgeons clearly mark the correct place to be operated on, the newspaper said.