Articles Posted in Vascular Surgery

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Margaret Parr, 68, underwent a hiatal hernia repair done by Dr. Medhat Allam. She was discharged several hours after the surgery. That night and the next morning, she suffered severe pain and was brought to another hospital where she underwent a second surgery, which revealed necrosis of her gallbladder, intestines, pancreas and stomach.

Unfortunately, Parr later died of ischemia resulting from thrombosis that had compromised one or more of the stents that been implanted in her celiac and mesenteric artery the year before.

Parr was a retiree and survived by her wife and adult daughter.
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William Andrews, 46, suffered from orthopedic injuries, including a hip fracture that he suffered in an ATV crash. He went to a hospital emergency room where he was placed in a knee immobilizer and was instructed to stay non-weight bearing. At a later doctor’s appointment with an orthopedist, he was diagnosed as having a fractured wrist and was referred to an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Gelfand.

Several days later, Dr. Gelfand met with Andrews and his wife who informed the doctor of Andrews’s hip fracture and immobility. Dr. Gelfand recommended that Andrews undergo surgical repair of the wrist fracture. This was scheduled for approximately ten days later.

Andrews remained immobile before the surgery and did not leave his house. The morning of the wrist surgery, Andrews’s wife found him on the floor of their bedroom, where he had died. The later autopsy showed that Andrews had died from a saddle pulmonary embolism.
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Isatu Sheriff, 39, underwent the removal of a bunion by a podiatrist and was placed on blood thinners following the surgery. One week after finishing the blood thinning medicine, she went to an urgent care facility complaining of leg pain. An emergency room physician performed a workup for muscle pain and back pain and prescribed opioids.

Sheriff collapsed and died eight days after that urgent care facility visit. The cause was determined to be a pulmonary embolism that traveled from her leg to lodge in her lung. She had been a certified nursing aid earning approximately $38,000 annually and was survived by her husband and two minor children.

Sheriff’s husband sued the doctor alleging that she chose not to test for and diagnose deep vein thrombosis. The Sheriff lawsuit alleged that the doctor should have ordered a Doppler ultrasound and a D-Dimer test, which would have revealed a treatable blood clot.
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Christine Coffey was diagnosed as having a “berry aneurysm.” The vascular surgeon assigned to Coffey was Dr. Henry Woo who reviewed Coffey’s images and advised her that an untreated aneurysm could cause sudden death.

Dr. Woo performed an Onyx brain aneurysm procedure. During the procedure, Coffey suffered brain damage that has left her with permanent hemiparesis. Hemiparesis, or unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one side of the body. Hemiparesis can be caused by different medical conditions, including stroke.
Coffey had worked at a hospital, but she is now unable to work. She also has an impaired ability to take care of her young child.

Coffey sued Dr. Woo alleging negligence in that he chose not to obtain an informed consent. The lawsuit claimed that Dr. Woo had forced the liquid Onyx embolic agent into Coffey’s small aneurysm, causing the Onyx particles to escape the aneurysm and cause a stroke. Coffey also asserted that Dr. Woo decided not to advise her of the dangers of the surgery and safer available alternatives.
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David Marr, 72, was undergoing cancer treatments at a cancer institute. He underwent a kidney function test, which was ordered by a nurse practitioner, Janet Kunsman. Radiologist Dr. Sachin Saboo then authorized a CT scan with IV contrast.

After the contrast dye was applied, Marr suffered kidney failure. Subsequently, he required dialysis until his death three years later. The finalized results of the renal function test, which arrived after Marr’s kidney failure, showed that he had worsening kidney function.

Marr’s estate sued Kunsman and Saboo alleging negligent authorization and administration of contrast dye on a patient with worsening kidney function. Marr argued that the defendants should have reviewed the finalized test result before contrast dye was administered.
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Samuel Gray was 61 when he reported excruciating pain and cramping in his left lower leg. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital emergency room where it was noted that he had diminished foot pulses and was in severe pain. He was later diagnosed as having acute ischemia of the lower leg and was given Heparin, a blood thinner.

The hospital staff contacted a thoracic surgeon, Dr. Panagiotis Iakovidis, who agreed to treat Gray and ordered a CT angiogram. The CT angiogram confirmed the diagnosis of acute ischemia in the lower leg.

However, Dr. Iakovidis did not see Gray personally until the next day, 22 hours after the hospital staff had requested his services. Despite an attempt to restore blood flow, Gray subsequently required below-the-knee amputation of his left leg.
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Over a period of seven years that began in May 2008, Ms. Doe, 50, presented to an HMO complaining of a dime-sized lesion on her right lower leg. Ms. Doe was seen by dermatologists and vascular surgeons. A Doppler study was completed. The doctors dressed the wound and did debridement.

In 2015, a biopsy revealed basal cell carcinoma. Ms. Doe required an extensive incision and suffered significant scarring and muscle loss.

Ms. Doe and her husband sued the HMO alleging that they choose not to timely diagnose the cancer when it was evident. The defendant argued that it had met the standard of care and that its actions had been reasonable considering Ms. Doe’s significant venous insufficiency. There was no claim for lost income.

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Michael Fava, 58, went to the emergency department complaining of leg pain that had not improved since he was seen at another hospital the previous day. He was diagnosed with having a retroperitoneal hemorrhage and a lack of blood flow to the legs.

However, the treating vascular surgeons, Dr. Harold Chung-Loy and Dr. Vincent Moss, chose not to determine the cause of the bleeding.

Fava spent four days in the hospital, which ended when he had bilateral above-the-knee leg amputations as a result of the lack of blood flow to his legs.
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Ms. Doe, 52, underwent popliteal peroneal artery bypass grafting surgery. She required four additional surgeries after this procedure, including replacement of her inflow and outflow grafts, a fasciotomy to relieve compartment syndrome and resection of necrotic muscle in her lower extremity.

Almost five weeks after the first surgery, Doe suffered a stroke. This led to her death the following day. Doe had been a human resource director earning approximately $100,000 per year. She was survived by her two adult children.

The lawsuit claimed that the outflow target vessel for the first surgery was negligently selected. This led to extremity ischemia, the need for additional surgery, the development of compartment syndrome and failure of the graft.
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In a case being reported with a confidentiality agreement, Doe, age 15, developed a mass on the bone of her left middle finger, for which orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ronald Hillock recommended surgery.

During the outpatient procedure, Dr. Hillock used a latex Penrose drain to place a tourniquet around Doe’s finger. While in the recovery room, a nurse noted that Doe’s finger looked discolored; however, Hillock discharged Doe.

Doe had several follow-up appointments with Dr. Hillock in the next few weeks but the finger remained discolored. Doe consulted a different doctor about 30 days after the surgery. That physician diagnosed ischemia and later performed a finger amputation.
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