Ohio Court Clears ASC in Regional Anesthesia Complication Suit

Written by Rachel Fields | August 31, 2010

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An Ohio appeals court has upheld a lower court's judgment to clear an ASC, orthopedic surgeon and CRNA sued by a patient who claimed her lung was punctured during a regional block placement, according to an Ohio Court of Appeals news release.

Kathy Rhoads filed suit against Terry Brown, CRNA, of Pickaway Anesthesia Associates, Michael Lefkowitz, MD, and the Physicians Ambulatory Surgery Center in Columbus, Ohio, after she allegedly sustained injuries during a 2002 surgical procedure at PASC. Ms. Rhoads said Mr. Brown punctured her lung and caused it to collapse while performing an interscalene block prior to Ms. Rhoads' shoulder operation.

Ms. Rhoads also alleged the collapsed lung went undiagnosed and untreated for more than a week, even though she complained of chest pain to Mr. Brown, the center's nursing staff and Dr. Lefkowitz's physician assistant.

The court dismissed the surgery center and clinicians from the suit when Ms. Rhoads failed to provide expert testimony or sufficient evidence to back up her claims of negligence.

Read the Ohio Court of Appeals release on the regional anesthesia complication lawsuit (pdf).

Read more on anesthesia:

-New Jersey Anesthesiologist Charged With Conspiring to Sell Prescription Drugs

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