Hospital removed part of man’s skull temporarily, then they lost it, lawsuit says
.png "A Georgia man is suing after he says an Atlanta hospital lost part of his skull after a brain surgery.")
A Georgia man is suing a hospital after he says the staff lost part of his skull after performing a brain surgery.
On Sept. 30, 2022, Fernando Cluster was admitted to Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, according to a lawsuit filed against Emory Healthcare, Inc. on Aug. 8.
Cluster had been diagnosed with an intracerebral hemorrhage and had to undergo brain surgery, court documents said. The procedure involved temporarily removing part of Cluster’s skull.
On Nov. 11, 2022, Cluster was scheduled to have another surgery where the part of the skull, known as a bone flap, would be reimplanted. However, as he was being prepped for surgery, hospital staff were unable to identify the bone flap, according to the complaint.
“When Emory’s personnel went to retrieve the bone flap, ‘there were several bone flaps with incomplete or missing patient identification’ and therefore, Emory ‘could not be certain which if any of these belonged to Mr. Cluster,’” his attorney said in the complaint.
Ultimately, Cluster was informed that the bone flap “could not be found,” according to the lawsuit.
McClatchy News reached out to Emory Healthcare, Inc. for comment Aug. 19 but did not immediately hear back.
According to the complaint, the surgery had to be postponed until Nov. 23 after a “synthetic implant flap” was made. This meant Cluster had to extend his stay at the hospital.
Cluster then got an infection in his synthetic flap, requiring yet another surgery, according to the complaint. He was also charged for the new synthetic replacement and for the extra time at the hospital, his legal team said.
According to the lawsuit, Cluster acquired over $146,000 of medical debt due to the hospital’s “negligence.”
The lawsuit is asking for an undetermined amount in damages.
This story was originally published August 19, 2024 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Hospital removed part of man’s skull temporarily, then they lost it, lawsuit says."
