In a lawsuit filed against HCA Florida Ocala, a woman who underwent multiple exploratory surgeries to examine her abdominal organs claims that the team botched the procedures, resulting in severe septic shock, pulmonary embolisms, and several other injuries.
The lawsuit was filed on June 12, 2024, in the fifth judicial court of Marion County by attorneys representing Wendy Mitchell, of Ocala. The lawsuit names Dr. Georgios Rossidis and the Ocala Health Surgical Group, which does business as HCA Florida Ocala Surgical Group, as defendants.
According to the complaint, Mitchell visited the HCA Florida West Marion Hospital (4600 SW 46th Ct, Ocala) emergency department on June 21, 2022 for “abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.”
During her visit, Mitchell claims she had a surgical consultation with Dr. Reginald Griffin and that she was subsequently “diagnosed with small bowel obstruction requiring surgical intervention.”
An exploratory laparotomy was performed on Mitchell. A laparotomy is a surgical procedure that provides access to the abdominal cavity in order to examine the organs inside.
After completing the surgery, the complaint notes that Dr. Griffin intentionally put “a hole in the bowel, called an enterotomy.”
According to the complaint, Mitchell was discharged from the hospital on June 27, 2022, nearly a week after she was first admitted.
The next day, June 28, 2022, Mitchell returned to the emergency department with “erythema, purulent drainage, and a foul odor from her surgical incision,” according to the complaint. At the time, she was allegedly “diagnosed with an infected surgical wound.”
On June 29, 2022, Mitchell was evaluated for an “infected surgical wound” and was found with a “3cm periumbilical dehiscence and serous drainage.” Her white blood count was also elevated at the time, according to the complaint.
Mitchell was evaluated that same day by Dr. Rossidis, who “indicated that she required exploratory surgery” to repair the dehiscence.
The following day, June 30, 2022, Mitchell underwent another exploratory laparotomy.
According to the complaint, Dr. Rossidis “noted that it was immediately apparent after removal of the staples that portions of” Mitchell’s large and small intestines had “protruded through the facial dehiscence.”
The doctor also noted that there were “several patchy areas of necrotic tissue” and “copious amounts of turbid fluid coming from the peritoneal cavity, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit suggests Rossidis “should have known” that Mitchell had “undergone decompression by enterotomy” and that she had “obvious signs and symptoms of abdominal infection” that was most likely caused by a “leak of the bowel at the site of the previously performed enterotomy.”
Mitchell’s attorneys argue that Rossidis “failed to perform the exploratory surgery” and “find and repair the leak.”
Instead, they claim the doctor “merely repaired the surgical wound dehiscence” and left the bowel leak to “continue and worsen.”
On July 2, 2022, Mitchell underwent a “critical care consultation.”
During that consultation, medical staff noted that Mitchell appeared “chronically ill” and had “decreased breath sounds, abnormal bowel sounds, abdominal tenderness, abnormal capillary refill, and weeping edematous anasarca,” according to the complaint.
At the time, Mitchell was diagnosed with “septic shock likely due to perforated or gangrenous bowel,” as well as hyponatremia, acute renal failure, metabolic acidosis, and abdominal wall cellulitis, among other ailments.
On July 3, 2022, Mitchell was transferred to the intensive care unit at the hospital and was “diagnosed with compartment syndrome,” according to the complaint. She was evaluated by Dr. Joseph Riad, who noted that she had an “elevated white blood count, was in respiratory distress, was confused and hallucinating,” and had a “severely distended” abdomen.
Mitchell was allegedly diagnosed with “severe septic shock, multisystem organ failure, and abdominal compartment syndrome,” according to the complaint. She was scheduled for re-exploratory laparotomy and, during the procedure, a 3-centimeter perforation was found in the location where the prior enterotomy had been performed.
The doctor also noted “peritonitis from stool and purulent fluid in the abdominal cavity,” according to the complaint.
After her surgery, Mitchell’s condition worsened until she became critical and was transferred to the surgical intensive care unit, where she was intubated, sedated, paralyzed, and on pressers, according to the complaint.
Two days later, Mitchell was “returned to surgery” with Dr. Rossidis for “partial closure of her abdominal wound with biologic mesh.”
According to the lawsuit, since that surgery, Mitchell has required “several blood transfusions and several additional surgical procedures stemming from her injuries.”
On July 25, 2022, Mitchell returned to the emergency department with “bilateral pulmonary embolisms, hypoxia, and pleural effusion.” She was admitted and eventually discharged to an “acute rehabilitation facility” on August 2, 2022.
The complaint suggests that if Dr. Rossidis had “performed a thorough and proper exploratory surgery on June 30, 2022,” Mitchell would “not have suffered substantial life-threatening injuries.”
Mitchell is seeking over $50,000 in damages, exclusive of costs and interest.
Join the conversation on Ocala-News.com