A Georgia hospital lost part of a man's skull, his lawsuit says
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A Georgia man and his wife are suing a hospital for negligence after its staff allegedly misplaced a nearly 5-by-6 inch piece of the man’s skull because it had not properly labeled body parts, according to a complaint filed last week.
Emory University Hospital Midtown and its staff caused Fernando Cluster and his wife, Melinda Cluster, pain and suffering and saddled them with more than $100,000 in unnecessary medical bills after they lost a segment of his skull during emergency surgery, the complaint filed in DeKalb County State Court said.
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The Atlanta hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday afternoon, nor did representatives for the Clusters.
Fernando Cluster was admitted to the hospital in September 2022 after he was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage. He underwent a procedure to relieve pressure, the complaint said, by temporarily removing a portion of Cluster’s skull.
Cluster was slated to have that 4.7-by-5.9-inch piece of skull reimplanted about a month and a half later, once swelling abated.
But as the hospital staff prepared Cluster for the reimplantation in November 2022, the staff “could not identify” his section of skull, according to the complaint.
“When Emory’s personnel went to retrieve the bone flap, ‘there were several bone flaps with incomplete or missing patient identification’ and therefore, Emory ‘could not be certain which if any of these belonged to Mr. Cluster,'” the complaint said. The staff eventually informed Cluster that his piece of skull could not be found.
This led to a lengthier, costlier process to permanently protect Cluster’s brain, according to the complaint. Rather than have his own bone implanted, Cluster was told that he needed a synthetic implant, which had to be manufactured. That surgery occurred 12 days later.
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Cluster was “forced to stay longer in the hospital,” the complaint said, and he “had to have synthetic material implanted in his head.”
The hospital then charged Cluster for the cost of the synthetic replacement, his additional time in the hospital and the procedure, the complaint said. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the synthetic implant cost more than $19,000. “Mr. Cluster subsequently suffered an infection in the synthetic flap, thereby necessitating an additional surgery,” the complaint added.
Emory hospital failed to exercise “ordinary and reasonable care” for Cluster and in storing his piece of skull, the couple argued in the complaint. They incurred more than $146,845 in medical expenses due to the hospital’s negligence, it alleged. The Clusters demanded that the hospital compensate them for damages after a jury trial.
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