On behalf of Hastings Law Firm posted in Hospital Negligence on Wednesday, February 12, 2014.

Surgery can be a frightening ordeal for some patients. Being put to sleep, recovery time and potential complications can cloud the mind when surgery is imminent. Despite their nerves, the majority of patients expect their surgeon to be able to keep their cool and stay in control of the situation. A lawsuit leveraged against a Texas hospital claims that due to hospital negligence, a neurosurgeon was allowed to continue practicing when it was clear that he was incapable of performing his job.

The lawsuit filed by a former patient in January of this year alleges that the neurosurgeon hired on at a Baylor hospital dealt with a history of drug use. The patient claims that he along with other patients were seriously harmed during surgery due to the negligence and mishandling of their health by the neurosurgeon. The plaintiff in this case says that he received what he referred to as unnecessary surgery after the doctor failed to even operate on the correct body part.

The claims don’t end there, though. Reports of a patient that ended up as a quadriplegic and another that bled to death have surfaced. The man who ended up as a quadriplegic due to the doctor’s severe mishandling of the case was more than just a patient, he also was the surgeon’s roommate and friend. After the botched surgery, the roommate reported to a nurse that he saw the surgeon using drugs only the day before.

The lawsuit claims that the Baylor area hospital allowed the drug-addicted neurosurgeon to continue practicing even after he made mistake after mistake with procedures as serious as spinal surgeries. Supposedly they even wrote him a letter of reference. More than one lawsuit has been filed against the Texas hospital for hospital negligence after legions of patients have been injured or, even worse, killed. If the lawsuit is successfully litigated, not only can it provide financial recourse to the patients and families who suffered at the hands of a seriously misguided doctor, but it may also finalize a sense of peace and justice for all of those involved.

Source: Dallas Business Journal, Lawsuit claims Baylor let cocaine-using surgeon botch operations, Bill Hethcock, Jan. 31, 2014