Doctor’s experimental procedure results in surgical errors

In modern times, Delaware patients may find it hard believe that people still falsify credentials. Unfortunately, hundreds of patients in another state have suffered unnecessary painful surgical errors at the hands of a doctor falsely presenting himself as a neurosurgeon. Lawsuits involving the doctor’s alleged malpractice have been prolonged over years, but new unheard testimony was recently presented revealing possible hospital cover-up of the malpractice.

The physician accused of performing the malpractice allegedly falsified certifications that he was a certified and trained neurosurgeon. Records indicate that the physician was only a certified anesthesiologist, and did not officially have the license or experience to perform delicate spinal surgeries. Despite his inexperience, the physician was allowed to practice in more than one medical facility, and he claims to have invented a pain reducing procedure. The procedure involved injecting hot bone cement into the spinal discs of patients, which was not standard practice.

The new testimony came to light when a certified pain specialist was treating one the patients that had received the experimental bone cement procedure. The pain specialist revealed that he had been contacted by hospital administration regarding the experimental procedure, and he claims that he quickly informed the administration that no more procedures should be performed. Lawsuit records do not indicate that the hospital or its administration ever acknowledged that they had been warned to stop the experimental procedures. Two out of three defendants have already settled $33 million in the ongoing lawsuit, but the hospital management company remains as a defendant. Attorneys for the defendants are attempting to prevent the pain specialist’s testimony from being used in the lawsuit, arguing that it was a confidential peer review.

Reportedly, many of the patients who received the experimental treatment suffer extreme pain, paralysis, numbness, decreased mobility and more. Many report their quality of life has been drastically reduced and cannot not be improved. Patients in Delaware who suspect they have suffered unnecessary medical malpractice or surgical errors could benefit from speaking to an attorney to be advised of their rights and options to file a lawsuit in civil court.

Source: abqjournal.com, “‘Bombshell’ testimony in bone cement malpractice case“, Colleen Heild, Oct. 1, 2017