$2.15M lawsuit: Hampton VA did surgery on wrong bone in foot - WHAT?

2015-06-01T08:49:24-04:00

Last summer, Mickey Murray went to the Hampton VA Medical Center with a broken right foot. A doctor recommended - and performed - surgery to his third metatarsal, court documents said.

If only that had been the broken bone.

Murray, a Navy veteran and now a former Norfolk sheriff's deputy, filed a $2.15 million lawsuit last week against the federal government claiming medical malpractice.

Among other things, the lawsuit said Dr. Rodney Harris installed a plate and three screws on the wrong bone in his right foot.

http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/2-15m-lawsuit-hampton-va-did-surgery-on-wrong-bone-in-foot-1.349886

Response by SrA Johnathan Kropke made Jun 1 at 2015 9:06 AM

2015-06-01T09:06:58-04:00

How does that even happen????? I mean that is pretty bad.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2015 9:15 AM

2015-06-01T09:15:04-04:00

You would think that, sometime before installing a plate and three screws, the doc might have realized the bone wasn't broken. But I'm not a doctor.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2015 11:28 AM

2015-06-01T11:28:36-04:00

Thats just crazy to think that the Dr's they have to help Vets are like that.

Response by Sgt Spencer Sikder made Jun 7 at 2015 10:21 AM

2015-06-07T10:21:40-04:00

More common that the public realizes. VISN 6, for which this facility aligns has paid millions to veterans and their families for their failures over the years. This should be surprising, but unfortunately it's not. There is some interesting reading on VA's OIG web site: http://www.va.gov/oig/apps/info/OversightReports.aspx?RET=Administrative+Investigation&RPP=10&RS=3

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