$850,000 Settlement
Medical Malpractice
The plaintiff lost her left kidney and suffered damage to her gallbladder and spleen as a result of the transection of her left ureter sustained during a colostomy with Hartmann procedure. Plaintiff contended that the general surgeon who performed the colostomy was negligent in transecting the left ureter by mistake. As a consequence of the general surgeon’s mistake, the plaintiff thereafter underwent surgery to replace the ruined ureter with an ileal-ureteral conduit, and this conduit subsequently failed. In a second surgical procedure to resolve the constant leak of urine into the plaintiff’s abdomen, plaintiff’s left kidney was surgically removed, and at that time her gallbladder and spleen were damaged. The general surgeon who performed the colostomy claimed that he properly identified the ureter during that procedure and that the injury to the ureter was a known risk of the colostomy procedure. The general surgeon also pointed to the fact that the plaintiff, who had undergone months of medical treatment and discomfort, chose to have her left kidney removed rather than undergo additional repair surgery. The general surgeon also contended that he was not culpable for injury to the gallbladder and spleen, as he did not take part in the surgery to remove the left kidney.
