Couple Sues Atlanta Hospital After Alleged Loss of Patient’s Skull Fragment Following Brain Surgery
An Atlanta hospital is being sued by a couple who say they lost part of a patient’s head after it was taken out during brain surgery because “several bone flaps” were not properly identified.
According to the complaint made in DeKalb County, Georgia, Fernando, and Maria Cluster say that staff at Emory University Hospital Midtown were careless, which caused them to have to stay in the hospital longer and suffer physical and emotional harm.
“Is committed to providing high-quality, compassionate care for patients and those we serve in our communities,” an Emory Healthcare spokeswoman said in a statement. The company does not comment on possible lawsuits.
In September 2022, Fernando Cluster had an intracerebral hemorrhage, which means he had bleeding in his head. He was at an Emory Healthcare hospital. According to the suit, Cluster needed emergency surgery to stop the bleeding, which would involve cutting off part of his brain.
The suit said that the doctors took out a 12-by-15-centimeter bone flap with the plan of putting it back in place during a second surgery a few weeks later.
It was said that the doctors had a hard time finding the bone flap in November 2022, when Cluster was supposed to have his follow-up surgery.
The suit said that when Emory’s staff went to get the bone flap, “there were several bone flaps with incomplete or missing patient identification.” Because of this, Emory “could not be certain which if any of these belonged to Mr. Cluster.”
He had to get a fake bone flap in the end, and he had to stay in the hospital for a lot longer. The couple says that the fake flap also gave them an illness that needed another surgery.
The suit said that Cluster has had “medical expenses over $146,845.60” because he was charged for the synthetic flap and his long hospital stay in addition to his surgeries.
In the lawsuit, the couple says that because the hospital was careless, he has been unable to work, his family relationship has been harmed, and he has lifelong injuries.
The couple’s claim doesn’t say how much money they want, but it does say that they want both general and special damages. When people sue each other in civil court, general damages are more general forms of compensation for things like mental distress or harm to quality of life, while special damages are more specific forms of economic harm.