LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (CN) - Kaiser found a cyst on a man’s kidney, but he was not told for almost five years, he claims in Gwinnett County State Court.

     Arkeem Swanson sued Kaiser Permanente Insurance Co., The Southeast Permanente Medical Group, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Inc., James K. Bailey, M.D. and radiologist Iris Kolla Pitts, M.D., MPH, formerly known as Iris Kolla, M.D., MPH, for both simple and professional negligence. His wife, Carla Renee Swanson, also sued for loss of consortium.

     According to the lawsuit, Arkeem Swanson complained of back pain to Dr. Bailey at his Sept. 2009 physical.

     “On the same day, plaintiff Arkeem Swanson underwent an abdominal CT scan, with contrast, which revealed an ‘incidental finding’ of an exophytic cyst located in the midportion of the left kidney. The radiologist, defendant Kolla, noted: ‘The findings were called to [defendant] Dr. Bailey upon completion of the study.’ Defendant Kolla did, in fact, upon completion of the study call her findings to defendant Bailey,” the complaint states. (Brackets included in complaint.)

     But nobody told Arkeem Swanson about the cyst, according to the complaint.

     Swanson continued to have regular physicals and acute care appointments over the next four and a half years, but did not find out about his 2009 CT scan results until May 2014, when he wound up in a non-party hospital’s emergency room with “complaints of severe pain,” according to the complaint.

     A June CT scan “revealed the presence of two kidney stones,” the complaint states. An MRI later revealed solid masses and probable cysts in both kidneys, according to the complaint.

     In Aug. 2014, “Arkeem Swanson underwent a procedure on his left kidney to remove the mass. Though he survived the surgery, plaintiff Arkeem Swanson will require further surgeries to remedy the spread of the renal masses,” the complaint states.

     The Swansons seek damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering and loss of consortium and a jury trial. They are represented by William Q. Bird of the Bird Law Group in Atlanta.