As reported by the Tampa Bay Times, a back surgeon must pay a $2 million settlement as ordered by an arbitration panel, to a patient that he subjected to five unnecessary surgeries within a three-month period.
The first surgery, making it a grand total of seven that the woman had, was deemed necessary to relieve her of back pain.
The six surgeries occurred in the beginning of 2007.
V.M., now 38, sued both her physician, Dr. A.B., and the surgery center he is affiliated with, Gulf Coast Orthopedic Center.
The medical negligence claim not only alleged that five of the six surgeries were unwarranted, it also stated that V.M. was exposed to needless testing.
Attorney Sam Heller represented A.B. in the lawsuit. Heller maintained that his client was not guilty of any of the allegations made in the lawsuit. Furthermore, according to Heller, any injuries sustained by V.M. were due to her own negligence, or caused by unknown third parties.
The suit claimed that within two months of V.M. reporting her back pain to Dr. A.B. he quickly put her through "inappropriate unnecessary, unreasonable and injury producing" medical procedures.
The suit further alleged that during the course of treatment A.B. injured the covering of V.M.'s spinal column – causing the leakage of fluid.
Avascular necrosis, the death of bone tissue, occurs when there is a lack of blood supply. The condition can cause bones to collapse. The suit claimed that both of V.M.'s hip joints were destroyed and her adrenal glands failed for months.
Two procedures, according to the suit, were performed without "accepted validity, rationale or scientific basis" and "for no apparent evident reason other than the possibility of personal financial gain and/or exploitation."
Gary Roberts, the attorney representing V.M., said that his client is "permanently totally disabled as a result of her relying on the representations made in the creative Internet advertising and by the falsehoods she was told..."
Roberts claimed that V.M. was told that her condition, a single herniated disc, had a risk of paralysis.
Roberts added, "She trusted Dr. (A.B.) with her care. That proved to be the worst decision of her life."
Instead of keeping A.B. in "an appropriate hospital setting" for her post-operative care, the suit states that she was sent to a public motel.
Since being treated by A.B. V.M. has had to take seven medications and submitted to "extensive remedial surgery" with a new doctor.
This is not the first time Roberts and A.B. have faced each other in court, or that A.B. has had to pay a settlement: In 1996 Roberts won a $3.5 million verdict and in 2001 he won an $8 million settlement against A.B. In 2010 an arbitration panel ordered A.B. to pay $12 million in another case.
Surgical operations, 35,000 in all, have been deemed successful according to A.B. spokespeople and there are testimonials from his patients on his website.
A case of medical malpractice or negligence requires that you contact a medical malpractice attorney to file a lawsuit. A monetary award may be due to you for any pain or suffering you have incurred.