Kaiser Botched Knee Surgery, Man Claims
7-8-2014 23:53:00


     BALTIMORE (CN) - A man with stents in both femoral arteries has permanent injuries because a knee surgeon used a tourniquet despite warnings not to, he claims in court.

     Calvin W. York sued Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc., Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, and Michael Scheerer, M.D., in the Circuit Court of Maryland for Baltimore City. York seeks a jury trial and damages in excess of $75,000 for each of two causes of action – medical malpractice and lack of informed consent.
     According to York’s lawsuit, he had stents placed in each of his legs to treat superficial femoral artery occlusions. He also had osteoarthritis in his knees, he says, and began preparing for two knee replacements.
     The doctor who did York’s pre-op vascular assessment wrote, “regarding his peripheral vascular status, he is cleared for total knee replacement from that standpoint. The patient should have one total knee replacement done at a time and it is recommended that no tourniquet be used on either the right or the left,” according to the complaint.
     The surgeon who did York’s right knee concurred, and said so in his pre-op examination notes, according to the complaint. His surgical notes indicated no tourniquet was used during York’s right knee replacement, the complaint states.
     However, that doctor retired the following year and could not replace the left knee, York says.
     Dr. Scheerer replaced York’s left knee and, “despite the warnings of Mr. York, the vascular consult notes, and the notations of Dr. Jaworski,” used an inflatable tourniquet on York’s left leg, the complaint states.
     “Following the surgery performed by Dr. Sheerer, Mr. York had severe vascular issues with his left leg that ultimately resulted in an unnecessary additional vascular bypass graft surgery to bypass the stent and blocked femoral artery, permanent injury, and consequential damages to Mr. York’s livelihood,” the complaint states.
     York says Dr. Scheerer should have told him he planned to use a tourniquet, “which Mr. York understood to be a significant risk given his medical history and the placement of the stent in his left femoral artery.”
     “Dr. Scheerer did not explain any and/or all of the material risks that a reasonable person would want to consider prior to consenting to such a surgery that included the use of a tourniquet,” York’s complaint states.
     Had he been fully informed, York says, he would not have consented.
     Calvin York is represented by David T. Lampton and Michael P. Smith of Smith, Gildea & Schmidt in Towson, Md.
24-C-14-004038