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In what was supposed to be an appendectomy, a Washington man claims he left the hospital’s emergency room with a completely different organ operated on — his colon.
On November 2, George Piano filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the University of Washington Medical Center and two surgeons following a botched surgery on December 6, 2022.
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According to court records, Piano went into the emergency room with abdominal pain and was subsequently diagnosed with appendicitis, requiring doctors to remove his appendix.
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Nidhi Udyavar, the attending physician, was supposed to supervise the surgeon in training, Paul Herman.
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The lawsuit claims that during the surgery, doctors failed to locate the patient’s appendix and instead removed part of his colon.
The following morning, he felt like something was wrong.
His attorneys, Ed Moore and Van Shaw, wrote in a press release that “the bowel contents began to spill into his abdominal cavity causing him to become much sicker.”
The medical mishap led to “a leaking colon that created sepsis and infection,” which he says he nearly died from.
Two days after the surgery, Piano’s CT scan revealed his appendix was never removed.
Piano required a follow-up surgery to fix the leaky colon and abdominal infection caused by the previous surgery.
“When I woke up and came out of the drugs, I was in serious pain. Much worse than I had been in when I went to the hospital,” he told USA Today.
Piano’s personal injury lawyer said “I’ve never heard of someone who was unable to locate an appendix.”
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“And for it to result in this kind of harm and disruption is mind-boggling,” he added.
The lawsuit claims Piano had to undergo four additional surgeries, 53 days of hospitalization, and lost 40 pounds in the process.
The couple initially chose not file a medical malpractice lawsuit, however after not hearing back from the hospital for eight days, they felt it was necessary.
“To watch someone you love, your family member go through that kind of trauma. It’s horrifying, it is,” his wife Betsy Piano said.
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Originally posted 2023-11-09 21:00:08.