Medical Malpractice Lawsuit: Doctor Removes Wrong Kidney

Arlington resident Glenn Hermes filed a medical malpractice lawsuit when he learned that his surgeon removed a healthy kidney from his body, rather than the diseased organ. Mr. Hermes learned the news when his surgeon, Dr. Robert Stroud, told him that he had inadvertently removed the healthy right kidney instead of the left one, for which Mr. Hermes had received a diagnosis of kidney cancer in January.

Surgical Mistake Leads to Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

The mistake that led to the medical malpractice lawsuit may be due to a misreading of Mr. Hermes’s kidney X-ray. The suit alleges that Dr. David Fenyes, the radiologist responsible for the X-ray, misread the film and assumed that the healthy right kidney was the one that contained the cancerous cells. Dr. Stroud allegedly acted on that advice and removed the healthy kidney. He apparently did not discover his mistake until after the surgery.

Family Reacts to Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Bernadette Hermes, Mr. Hermes’s wife, is also one of the plaintiffs in the medical malpractice lawsuit. She told a local TV station that she couldn’t believe that the surgeon and the radiologist, with a combined 40 years of experience, could make such a simple and devastating mistake.

“How could this have happened?” she asked the doctors. “(Dr. Stroud) just kept saying, ‘I’m sorry. I know. I’m sorry.”

Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Victim Awaits Transplant

The good news, if any can be found, for Mr. Hermes is that another doctor removed the cancerous tissue in the remaining kidney. The 55-year-old victim now must wait for at least four years on a transplant list to replace the weakened kidney. The family maintains that they are not using the medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Stroud and Dr. Fenyes as a retalitory measure, but to ensure the family’s future if Mr. Hermes does not survive to receive a transplant.

“I have three-quarters of a kidney left,” Mr. Hermes told a local TV station.

Source: KTVT-TV

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