Top 10: Scary Medical Malpractice Cases -114

10: Forced Rectal Exam

 

After suffering an on-the-job head injury, Brian Persaud, a 38-year-old construction worker, was rushed to a nearby hospital in downtown New York City. What followed became the subject of a major malpractice lawsuit. Mr. Persaud contested that, after receiving stitches to his head, doctors forced a rectal exam upon him even though he furiously resisted. The emotionally injured Persaud then sued but eventually lost his case when a jury found that the hospital did nothing wrong: The rectal exam was meant to check for damage to Persaud's spinal cord and was never completed. 

 9 :The Wrong Egg

 When young couple Matthew Hayes and Nico Swift checked into an Oregon hospital, they paid thousands in hopes of using Matthew's sperm to artificially inseminate his fiance (at least, that was the plan). In a colossal man-made mix-up, the clinic accidentally used Mr. Hayes' sperm to inseminate the wrong woman! Making matters worse, the unidentified “wrong” woman requested an anonymous donor, and thus, the law prevented Mr. Hayes from even seeing the resulting child. Hayes currently has two lawsuits in court and is emotionally devastated by the ordeal: "They put my sperm into a stranger's vagina."

 8:Deaf From Diarrhea

Sue Gonzales went to her local Dallas hospital for routine treatment, but left unable to hear a single sound. Gonzales was receiving antibiotic therapy via IV for diarrhea, however, the IV was left in too long, and the antibiotic permanently damaged the nerve cells in her ears. What’s worse is that her doctor recognized the IV had been in too long, yet failed to have it removed. Gonzales now cannot perform a task as simple as answering the phone and she can’t even sue for her damages: Texas law has made it economically unviable for malpractice lawyers to take on such cases.

7:Healthy Lung Removal

 

In the summer of 2005, Laurence Ball of the UK complained of chest pains to his doctor. Ball was referred to NHS Grampian, where he was diagnosed with lung cancer and had his lung removed. Problem was that Ball didn’t have cancer, and the removal was an utter mistake. Ball was left a frail man, exhausted after little to no exertion. He received no apology or explanation, and finally took the case to court, but not until recently. Though he hopes to settle matters outside of the courtroom, someone has to pay for this mammoth mistake. 

 6:Sleeping Surgeon

 

 All patients want competent doctors -- that’s why our next story is truly frightening. When Michael Hicks went to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for a second round of liposuction surgery, he was told the procedure would take close to 90 minutes. Instead, the Boston-area native endured a nightmare at the hands of surgeon Dr. Loren Borud. When all was said and done, the procedure took over six hours. Borud was noted as being impaired and falling asleep on the job, yet coworkers did nothing to stop him. Borud has since been fired and is awaiting litigation for malpractice. 

5:Burning Man

 Waking up after surgery can be a disorienting experience, but waking form surgery to find that you have suffered serious burns defies description. Such was the case for Robbin Reeves when he underwent liver transplant surgery at Vancouver General Hospital in 2005. Reeves awoke to find a large, bloodied bandage on his shoulder. Apparently, Reeves' heart had stopped during the operation, and in the rush to emergency surgery, disinfectant alcohol on his neck and shoulder caught fire. To further complicate matters, Reeves' liver transplant failed. Though Reeves' malpractice lawsuit is pending, it's hard to think he won't receive some form of compensation. 

4:Botched Birth

 The following story is not for the squeamish -- a warning that was delivered to jurors in a trial brought forth by Texas resident Sarah Wallace. In 2003, Wallace was a patient at Mid-Jefferson Hospital. She had gone into early labor, so on-call doctor Donald Long performed an episiotomy (an operation involving a surgical incision through the vagina to assist in childbirth). Unfortunately, Long neglected to check for a rectovaginal fistula, a hole between the anus and vagina. The result: Sarah began passing stool through her vagina. Long is now being sued for neglecting the appropriate standard of care (duh!).

3:30-Year-Old Sex Change

 Moving from scary to downright haunting comes a peculiar case from Germany. Nearly a half century ago, Christiane Volling was born with indeterminate external genitalia. As a result, she was named Thomas and raised as a boy (a common practice at the time). However, when Christiane was 18, she underwent an appendix operation during which her surgeon discovered an intact set of ovaries -- which he set about removing. After learning she was female some 30 years later, Christiane felt robbed of her womanhood, and German courts settled in her favor: Her surgeon illegally performed an invasive operation without discussing all possible options before proceeding.

2:The Wrong Limb

 In perhaps the most publicized case of surgical malpractice, a Tampa surgeon mistakenly removed the wrong leg of 52-year-old Willi King during an amputation procedure in 1995.  Apparently, a chain of errors led to the mishap, and the surgical team even realized their error halfway into surgey, but by that time it was too late, and the leg had to be removed. King eventually received over $1 million in compensation, and the case prompted a new wave of precautionary measures at University Community Hospital to prevent such ordeals from happening in the future (let's hope). 

->1<- Vasectomy Gone Wrong

 

Being a men's website, it's no wonder that the following case made it all the way to No. 1. After his wife became pregnant with a fourth child, Daniel Stalker went for a routine vasectomy. However, during the operation, Mr. Stalker began experiencing intense pain despite having been anesthetized. Stalker's doctor, Dr. Paul Dewart, continued anyway until the operation was abandoned when Stalker keeled over vomiting. One of Stalker's testicles then turned black and doubled in size! Years later, Stalker required his testicles be removed due to searing pain. Fortunately, he successfully sued Dewart for $1.76 million (but is that really justice?).

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