A Georgia man is suing a hospital after staff allegedly lost part of his skull during brain surgery.
Fernando Cluster, 62, was admitted to Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta in September 2022 for an intracerebral hemorrhage, also known as a brain hemorrhage.
According to a lawsuit, doctors planned to remove a saucer-sized piece of his skull to relieve pressure in his brain.
But when Mr. Cluster returned to the hospital two months later to have the 5-by-6-inch piece replaced, the hospital claimed it had disappeared among a pile of other unidentified bone fragments from other patients.
Fernando Cluster, 62, was admitted to Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta in September 2022 for an intracerebral hemorrhage, during which the hospital reportedly lost a piece of his skull
Mr. Cluster is now suing Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta for compensation for medical bills and emotional distress
A note from hospital staff in Mr. Cluster’s file states: “We inspected the freezer where bone flaps are stored but were unable to locate a bone flap with Mr. Cluster’s patient identification.”
“There were several bone flaps with incomplete or missing patient identification, but we could not say for sure whether these belonged to Mr. Cluster.”
Without the piece, Mr. Cluster would have been left with a dent in his head, known as cranial depression,
According to the lawsuit, obtained by the Atlanta Journal ConstitutionIt took several days for the hospital to order a synthetic replacement that was the exact shape of the missing piece.
In November 2022, doctors placed the flap, but the hospital reportedly charged Mr. Cluster $19,000.
Shortly afterward, he developed an infection, which the lawsuit alleges is a known complication of synthetic substitutes.
This is because certain materials used to produce the components, such as hydroxyapatite, acrylic, and biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP), may not always be compatible with brain tissue.
If the materials are not compatible, they can cause an overreaction of the immune system in the brain, which can lead to infection.
The infection left him unable to work, and by the end of the ordeal, Mr. Cluster’s bill totaled $146,800.
The hospital is said not to have given a discount on the treatment.
Mr. Cluster and his wife are now suing the hospital for compensation for medical bills and emotional distress.
“It is shocking that a medical provider like Emory would lose part of a patient’s skull and then refuse to take responsibility,” Cluster and his wife said in a statement.
“We now have to live with the consequences of Emory’s negligence, including the daily fear of a new infection in my head and medical bills.”
“We want to know if this has happened to other patients to see if they have received an explanation from Emory. Our goal is to make sure this never happens to another patient.”
Chloe Dallaire, Mr. Cluster’s attorney at Hornsby Law Group in Atlanta, told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution: “My clients are obviously upset that they and their insurance company have been charged for the costs associated with Emory’s negligence. As you can imagine, they are focused on the horrible situation of Emory losing a limb and then they are making light of it.”
