NEW ORLEANS – A Lafayette man is suing his orthopedic surgeon claiming that a screw was negligently placed in the wrong position in his back which necessitated two additional surgeries and increased medical expenses.
Lollo Francis, III filed suit against David James Wyatt, M.D. in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court on May 27.
The plaintiff claims that he sustained a job related traumatic back injury on Sept. 26, 2012, after which he visited the defendant as a patient. Francis claims that he underwent surgery on April 10, 2014 that was performed in manner inconsistent with the appropriate standards of care expected of an orthopedic spine surgeon. He claims that the L5 pedicle screw was negligently placed in the wrong position. He also claims that sufficient bone to properly perform the fusion was not used.
The plaintiff claims to have undergone a second surgical procedure performed by another physician on Dec.8, 2014 to remove the malpositioned hardware and a second remedial surgery on April 28, 2015 to remove the intrabody cage utilizing an anterior approach.
The defendant is accused of deviating from acceptable standards of care, misplacing hardware, and failing to properly assess the surgical outcome during post-operative clinic visits.
The plaintiff is seeking an unspecified amount in damages for pain and disability, mental anguish, medical expenses and a loss of wage-earning capacity.
The plaintiff is represented by Daniel S. Foley of New Orleans-based Baker, Boudreaux, Lamy & Foley.
This case has been assigned to Div. A Judge Tiffany G. Chase.
Case no. 2015-05053.