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I haven't followed this story, but I would expect the surgeon would have expected the blood type to be checked numerous times by numerous people prior to the surgery.. I would have thought it impossible to make that error because organs and donor are matched using the tissue type and blood group.. In hospitals however there is a hierarchy and ultimately the surgeon is responsible. If there was a clerical error in regard to the entry of donor blood group then it seems mitigating enough to absolve the surgeon.
Nonetheless medical errors happen so often in hospitals it is unbelievable, (and i think unacceptable). Often these are system failures like this one, things like as mis-reading prescriptions happens a lot, and inappropriate prescribing are two very common other ones. Sure people make mistakes but there is an obligation to try and reduce mistakes and implement systems to eliminate them where possible, this happens too infrequently. Often because hospitals don't have the cash or are too short sighted to see that short term costs lead to long term savings.
Transplant surgery is quite interesting too.. It's damned expensive and since health resources are limited (unless you're insured) then it can be quite hard to justify. It could be argued that this money could be spent to provide a greater good to a greater number of people in other areas.. Thing is transplant surgery is cutting edge and 'cool' so surgeons like to do it.
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