A man has filed a lawsuit against a doctor at the University of Washington Medicine after he was reportedly fighting for his life following an alleged botched surgery.
The lawsuit claims that George Piano’s procedure went horribly wrong when instead of getting his appendix removed, a piece of his colon was removed instead, according to KIRO. Piano said he almost died in the procedure.
Piano and his family said that they filed the lawsuit so they could help prevent a similar situation from happening to another person, the news outlet reported.
The procedure happened on Dec. 6, 2022. Piano said he is still suffering.
“I’m not the same person I was when this started,” Piano said.
Piano reportedly told KIRO that he went to the University of Washington Medical Center Northwest’s emergency room for abdominal pain. He was later diagnosed with appendicitis and needed to have his appendix removed. He realized the following morning that something wasn’t right.
“When I woke up and came out of the drugs, I was in serious pain. Much worse than I had been in when I went to the hospital,” he said, according to the news station.
The lawsuit claims that since the doctor ended up removing part of his colon and did not remove the appendix, Piano needed a second surgery to get it removed, KIRO reported. The lawsuit also claims that the doctor punctured the colon during the first procedure.
“I was suffering from a leaking colon that created sepsis and infection. And I almost died from it,” Piano said. The surgeon who performed “the alleged botched appendectomy” did not address the situation for over a week later.
Piano said that he had to go through four additional procedures, needed an ileostomy bag, and had an open wound in his abdomen for months that all led to intense pain. KIRO reported. Over the last year, he had to spend 53 days in the hospital, lost about 40 pounds, and has other issues.
Piano and his family reportedly did not want to file the lawsuit but they felt it was necessary after they did not get a response from the hospital. According to the news outlet, the lawsuit does not mention any specifics on monetary value being sought.
A spokesperson for University of Washington Medicine released a statement obtained by KIRO:
“We strive to provide the best possible care to all of our patients; their safety and well-being is deeply important to us. This suit was just filed yesterday so, given the timeline, we are not able to comment on the specifics of the case.”
