A man from Washington is suing a hospital and two doctors after he alleges that surgeons removed the wrong organ from his body during surgery. George Piano and his wife Elizabeth Piano filed a medical malpractice lawsuit on November 2 in King County Superior Court. The lawsuit names the University of Washington Medical Center and two UW surgeons, Nidhi Udyavar and Paul Herman, as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, George Piano went to the hospital’s emergency room on December 6 due to abdominal pain and was diagnosed with appendicitis. He was then taken into surgery to have his appendix removed. However, during the surgery, the suit claims that the doctors were unable to locate the patient’s appendix and instead removed a part of his bowel. As a result, Piano experienced even worse abdominal pain after the surgery, as the bowel contents began to spill into his abdominal cavity.
Two days later, a CT scan revealed that Piano’s appendix was never removed during the surgery. He had to undergo a second surgery on December 8 to have his appendix finally removed. The lawsuit states that a doctor mistakenly removed a piece of diverticulitis on Piano’s lower colon instead of his appendix. This error led to another surgery to repair a “leaky colon” and address an abdominal infection caused by the initial surgery.
Piano has endured significant physical and emotional suffering as a result of the alleged medical mishap. He spent 53 days in the hospital, lost around 40 pounds, developed anxiety, and experienced short-term memory loss. Despite not wanting to file a lawsuit, Piano and his wife decided to take legal action after receiving no response from the hospital. They hope that their case will prevent similar incidents from happening to others in the future.
The University of Washington Medicine declined to comment on the pending litigation but emphasized their commitment to providing the best possible care to all patients. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and requests a jury trial.
