A Georgia man who underwent surgical procedure two years in the past for a mind bleed and needed to have a part of his cranium briefly eliminated was then charged hundreds of {dollars} after medical workers misplaced the bone and had to make use of artificial supplies to switch it, his attorneys stated.
Fernando Cluster, 62, was initially admitted to Emory College Hospital Midtown in Atlanta on Sept. 30, 2022, and underwent a decompressive hemicraniectomy, a surgical procedure to alleviate strain on the mind, in accordance with a lawsuit filed earlier this month.
The lawsuit states that Cluster’s medical process concerned eradicating a 12-by-15-centimeter portion of his cranium, often called a bone flap. The bone flap was scheduled to be surgically changed throughout a cranioplasty the subsequent month.
Nevertheless, Emory hospital employees had been unable to seek out Cluster’s bone flap on the time of the follow-up surgical procedure on Nov. 11, 2022, the lawsuit says.
The hospital didn’t instantly reply to HuffPost’s request for a remark and has to this point not responded to Cluster’s claims in courtroom filings.
Emory hospital workers had positioned the bone flap the day earlier than Cluster’s surgical procedure, however couldn’t discover it when making ready for the operation the subsequent day, in accordance with Cluster’s medical notes, which his lawyer Chloe Dallaire shared with HuffPost.
“We inspected the freezer the place bone flaps are saved and couldn’t discover a bone flap with Mr. Cluster’s affected person identification,” the notes learn. “There have been a number of bone flaps with incomplete or lacking affected person identification, however we couldn’t be sure which if any of those belonged to Mr. Cluster.”
Hospital workers informed Cluster they needed to reschedule his cranioplasty till an artificial implant flap could possibly be made, in accordance with the lawsuit.
Dallaire stated her shopper was pressured to stay hospitalized because of the delay and was charged for his prolonged hospital keep. The surgical procedure finally befell on Nov. 23, 2022, however Cluster then developed an an infection from the artificial flap and needed to bear a further surgical procedure, the lawsuit says.
Cluster has been charged over $220,000 for medical bills associated to his go to, which embrace the price of the artificial bone flap, its elimination after it turned contaminated, and the implantation of a second artificial flap, Dallaire informed HuffPost in an e-mail on Wednesday.
“It’s surprising {that a} medical supplier like Emory would lose a part of certainly one of its affected person’s skulls after which refuse to simply accept duty,” Cluster stated in a press release Dallaire offered. “We now should reside with the results of Emory’s negligence, together with every day worry about one other an infection in my head and medical prices.”
In accordance with his lawsuit, Cluster has suffered bodily and emotional ache and is in search of a trial by jury. The lawsuit additionally names Cluster’s spouse as a plaintiff, saying she has been “disadvantaged of the love, society, companionship, and consortium of her husband.”
Dallaire informed HuffPost that Cluster is recovering from the implantation of the second artificial flap.
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