Patient Sues for Colonoscopy Failure

August 18, 2009

Last week, a jury in New Mexico awarded a plaintiff $1 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit. According to the allegations, Michael Salopek went to his doctor in 2005 to be treated for a puncture wound in his colon. Salopek underwent a colonoscopy and his internal organs were pierced by the surgeon’s tools. His doctor, however, told him that the perforation had healed itself.

Because he was not treated, Salopek’s fecal matter leaked out through the hole in his colon and into his body. This occurred for 11 days and caused a serious infection. He required 13 follow-up surgeries to repair the damage and to remove part of his colon.

Salopek was forced to pay medical expenses and lost wages at work. Though it is not unheard of for a perforation to occur during a colonoscopy surgery, the doctor should have recognized the problem and treated the hole before the infection occurred.