Lawsuit For Bowel Injury During Hysterectomy: Tiffany Lunsford has filed an Iowa medical malpractice lawsuit arising out of the injuries she sustained on March 11, 2020 during a hysterectomy, ovarian cystectomy, and lymph node dissection for cervical cancer performed at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (“UHC”). Lunsford was discharged from the hospital the day after the surgery.
Tiffany Lunsford has filed an Iowa medical malpractice lawsuit arising out of the injuries she sustained on March 11, 2020 during a hysterectomy, ovarian cystectomy, and lymph node dissection for cervical cancer performed at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (“UHC”). Lunsford was discharged from the hospital the day after the surgery.
While at home recuperating from her surgery, Lunsford experienced swelling that was reported to her medical caregivers that resulted in her return to UHC with complaints of worsening abdominal pain, discharge, and constipation. A CT scan of her abdomen revealed that she had a bowel perforation for which she underwent exploratory surgery and abdominal washout. Lunsford’s Iowa medical malpractice lawsuit alleges that the surgeon who performed the exploratory surgery told her after the surgery “that her rectum was so charred that he was unable to evaluate exactly where the perforation was, and that it appeared as if the cautery tool was left on the rectum for too long.” Lunsford alleges that the surgeon who had performed the hysterectomy called her while she was in the hospital and apologized: “This is the worst thing a surgeon can hear … I am so sorry.”
Lunsford remained in the hospital until March 21, 2020. On July 22, 2020, she had a colostomy takedown, at her request, due to continuing complaints of pain. She was hospitalized for three days at that time.
Lunsford filed her claim against Iowa with the State Appeal Board in March 2022 for the alleged medical negligence of the surgeon and others who participated in her hysterectomy surgery in March 2022, claiming $6 million in damages, for increased medical costs, pain and suffering, mental anguish, permanent disabilities, decreased earning capacity, and decreased ability to care for and provide comfort for her two sons. Lunsford withdrew her claim with the State Appeal Board after filing her Iowa medical malpractice lawsuit on December 27, 2022.
In her Iowa medical malpractice lawsuit, Lunsford claims that she suffered permanent impairment and cannot take care of her two sons in the manner in which she did before the surgery. She alleges in her medical malpractice complaint: “To date, Lunsford continues to deal with PTSD, scarring, pain, and gastrointestinal dysfunction as a result of her bowel perforation.” She alleges that the physicians who participated in her hysterectomy negligently performed the surgery and negligently failed to recognize that they had perforated her bowel both during the surgery and before discharging her from the hospital. They are also accused of failing to promptly refer her to a specialist.
If you or a loved one may have been harmed as a result of medical negligence in Iowa or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find an Iowa medical malpractice lawyer or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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