$1 Million Colon Perforations Caused by Surgical Error
On April 27, the Claimant, was admitted to the Defendant Hospital for the purposes of donating a kidney to his brother. At that time, he was in perfect health, and was admitted to the hospital for no purpose other than to provide his brother with a needed kidney.
During the course of the surgical procedure, the operating surgeons at the Defendant Hospital negligently inflicted injury to his duodenum as well as his colon. Tragically, the operating surgeons were further negligent in their failure to recognize the perforations they had inflicted so that his injuries remained untreated. In fact, the Claimant was returned to the recovery room and subsequently to his hospital room in a severely injured and debilitated condition.
As the direct and proximate result of the injuries inflicted, the Claimant suffered with acidosis (his lactic acid laboratory results were markedly abnormal); suffered tachycardia as well as oliguria; was hypotensive (low blood pressure); and had a significant abdominal distension with decreased bowel sounds. To compound the initial negligence, duly authorized agents and/or employees of the Defendant Hospital negligently determined that the Claimant was suffering from pancreatitis rather than the injuries they had inflicted. An exploratory laparotomy was negligently delayed until April 30, when the perforations were belatedly discovered for the first time. As the result of the injuries they had inflicted, the Claimant required a duodenojejunostomy, a cholecystectomy, and an ileostomy. The Claimant then suffered with acute tubular necrosis due to the negligence complained of — in his one remaining kidney — resulting in the need for kidney dialysis. Thereafter, due to the injuries negligently inflicted, the Claimant was placed in a chemically induced coma by physicians at the Defendant Hospital with an open abdomen for approximately one month.
Subsequently, the Claimant was forced to undergo surgery on May 2, May 5, May 8, and June 5. All of these procedures were required due to the negligence of the Defendant Hospital’s personnel.
However, the Claimant’s nightmare continued. Subsequently, he developed an infection which was required to be treated with extremely potent antibiotics; he developed deep vein thrombosis requiring anti-coagulation therapy; and finally, hospital personnel further negligently diagnosed him with an adrenal insufficiency and treated him with high-dose steroids although the diagnosis was nothing more than a negligent misdiagnosis. He never required the steroids.
By the time the Claimant was finally discharged from the Defendant Hospital, he was totally disabled and suffering with severe injury. He has in the past, is presently, and will in the future continue to experience severe physical pain, emotional anguish, as well as anxiety, fear, humiliation, and embarrassment over his condition. He suffers with chronic weakness as well as pain. Additionally, he has sustained permanent dysequilibrium and loses his balance on a chronic basis. Further, whenever he turns his head, he sustains dizziness and a feeling of his “head swimming.”