B.C. rancher suing Interior Health, 2 doctors for operating on wrong ankle
Global News
The medical malpractice lawsuit claims the two doctors didn’t know they operating on the wrong ankle until nurses pointed it out around 90 minutes into the surgery.
A B.C. rancher is suing two Vernon doctors and Interior Health, claiming an ankle surgery was botched as they operated on the wrong leg.
In court documents filed in Kamloops last week, Julie Alison Reid alleges she was admitted to Vernon Jubilee Hospital (VJH) on March 5, 2020, to have an arthroscopic fusion of her left ankle.
The medical malpractice lawsuit names Dr. Julian Sernik and Dr. Robert Hillis as defendants, and claims despite the two confirming with Reid which ankle they were to operate on prior to the surgery, they didn’t know they working on the wrong ankle until nurses pointed it out around 90 minutes into the operation.
Reid is seeking relief for general damages, special damages plus past and future costs of health-care services.
In the statement of facts, the lawsuit says Interior Health, VJH, Sernik and Hillis owed a duty of care to provide appropriate and proper care plus assessment and treatment for the plaintiff’s medical conditions.
“Prior to the operation, (Reid) spoke to Dr. Sernik and/or Dr. Hillis and staff of the Health Authority and VJH and confirmed the correct limb for the operation and marked and signed her left leg,” says part of the seven-page notice of civil claim.
“After putting the plaintiff under general anesthetic, the defendants, Dr. Sernik, Dr. Hillis and employees and staff of VJH and the Health Authority in fact performed an arthroscopic examination and debridement of the plaintiff’s right ankle, where cartilage was removed from the plaintiff’s right ankle.
“The operation on the plaintiff’s right ankle continued for approximately 90 minutes until the defendants, Dr. Sernik and Dr. Hillis, were notified by circulating nurses that they were, in fact, operating on the wrong ankle of the plaintiff.”
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