” player=”SPdDOYds” platform=”jw-player” playlist=”Toq2ZZoq” playlisttype=”recommendations” /]
I have a headache.
A Georgia man has filed a lawsuit against an Atlanta hospital after hospital staff allegedly lost about 28 square inches of his skull after a routine surgery, then billed him for a synthetic replacement when it was never found.
Fernando Craster was admitted to Emory University Midtown Hospital in September 2022 for an intracerebral hemorrhage, more commonly known as a cerebral hemorrhage, and doctors determined a 4.7-by-6-inch section of his skull needed to be removed to relieve pressure, according to the Aug. 8 lawsuit. Obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
But when he returned to the hospital two months later to have the skull fragments replaced, the hospital could not find it among a pile of unidentified bone fragments found in the bodies of other patients.
“A search of the freezer where the bone fragments are stored revealed no bone fragments bearing Mr. Craster’s patient identification number,” a note left by hospital staff in Craster’s medical file said. “Several bone fragments had incomplete or missing patient identification numbers, but it was unclear which, if any, belonged to Mr. Craster.”
There was a hole in his head with nothing to fill it, and the removal of the skull left a large hole in the right side of Craster’s skull, so Craster’s operations were halted while the hospital constructed an artificial skull.
By the end of November, a bone graft had been inserted into Craster’s skull, but the hospital billed him more than $19,000 for the replacement bone he had supposedly lost.
But the cluster nightmare wasn’t over yet.
After having the bone implant inserted, he developed an infection and needed further surgery, which prevented him from working for some time.
At the end of his ordeal, Craster’s bill exceeded $146,800, but the hospital allegedly refused to offer him and his wife any discounts on their medical costs.
“My clients are obviously upset that they and their insurance companies have been hit with costs related to Emory’s negligence, but I think their focus is understandably on the egregiousness of Emory’s loss of a body part and its subsequent flippant attitude about it,” Cluster’s attorney, Chloe Dallaire, told the Journal Constitution.
Craster and his wife are seeking compensation from the hospital for medical expenses and emotional damages.
