Former nurse sues hospital and former chief of surgery
A 61-year-old nurse who claims her left leg was amputated two years ago because of improperly treated complications from spinal surgery at New Milford Hospital has filed a http://burgsimpson.com/malpractice.htmlmalpractice lawsuit against the hospital and the now-retired surgeon. In the lawsuit, Eileen Kelleher, accuses the hospital and its former chief of surgery, Dr. Ramon Mabasa, with failing to properly care for and treat Kelleher after her surgery, during which Mabasa performed an "anterior transabdominal approach to the lumbosacral spine." The lawsuit is a companion to
one the attorneys filed a year ago against Dr. Ramon Mabasa, who Kelleher blames for her disability. The new lawsuit says that during her post-operative recovery in the intensive care unit, she suffered intra-abdominal hemorrhaging, post-operative bleeding, abdominal wounds, and other severe complications that the medical staff d id not appropriately diagnose or treat, resulting in a gangrenous lower leg condition that required an above-the-knee amputation. The lawsuit suggests that the nursing staff did not properly supervise or monitor Kelleher's care, and when complications arose her physicians were not notified promptly so adequate medical interventions could be made. In the legal argument against Mabasa, the lawyer notes that in 2004 the surgeon was disciplined by the state Department of Public Health in relation to an accusation that in November 2002 Mabasa scheduled the repair of a hernia in a woman who had just undergone a caesarean section but mistakenly performed a minor surgical operation on the wrong side. In that case, Mabasa opted against a full hearing and signed a consent order related to the facts in the case. He was required to pay a civil penalty of $5,000. At the time of her planned back
surgery, Kellher was unaware Mabasa was to be involv ed in her surgery until just before the procedure was to take place. He said that denied her an opportunity to check on his credentials, which would have indicated prior m
edical malpractice complaints. Her lawyer said he will seek whatever a financial reward "a jury feels would be appropriate compensation for a woman who needlessly lost her leg."
