Type of Case: Medical Malpractice
Injuries Alleged: Bilateral ureter injury, perforation of the bladder, fistula, nerve damage to bladder, recurrent UTI’s, recurrent kidney infections, and post-operative ileus
Special Damages: $528,423
Verdict: $1,500,000.00
Attorney: William Kilduff, Howard Bullock
Summary: Plaintiff, age 36, went to see the defendant gynecologist with complaints of chronic pelvic pain, and was diagnosed with chronic pelvic pain and stage II endometriosis.
Thereafter, a Laparoscopic hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was planned. During the procedure, the defendant gynecologist entered the bladder, failed to realize that they had entered the bladder, and continued with the procedure, causing injury to the trigone area of the bladder. The Defendant gynecologist then clamped, transected, and suture ligated one of the ureters; and obstructed the other. The Defendant failed to realize any of these complications, despite the continued presence of frank blood in the plaintiff’s urine postoperatively. The plaintiff was discharged on the day following the procedure.
Plaintiff returned to the defendant’s office approximately five days post-operatively complaining of nausea, vomiting, high temperature and decreased voiding. The Defendant gynecologist did not order the Plaintiff to receive any follow up imaging or go to the hospital. Later that evening the Plaintiff drove herself to the emergency room where a CT scan confirmed the presence of fluid in the plaintiff’s abdomen and hydronephrosis. It was ultimately determined that both of the ureters and the entire trigone area of the plaintiff’s bladder had been injured during the hysterectomy causing urine to leak into her abdomen and acute renal failure.
That same day the plaintiff had surgery to reimplant both ureters and repair her bladder.
The plaintiff has suffered multiple complications since the re-implantation surgery, including surgical repair of a fistula, loss of bladder sensation, recurrent UTI’s and kidney infections.