Georgia malpractice type allegations

Georgia Bowel Obstruction and Abdominal Emergency Allegations

Bowel-obstruction and abdominal-emergency allegations often concern whether abdominal pain, imaging findings, obstruction, leak, torsion, or surgical signs were treated urgently enough.

Overview

The examples below involve public Georgia complaint allegations about bowel obstruction, internal hernia, bowel leak, appendicitis, abdominal evisceration, ovarian torsion, or other abdominal emergencies. Some examples overlap with surgical-complication or emergency-discharge pages, but each included case has an abdominal emergency at the center of the alleged pattern.

At a glance: 17 case summaries from public Georgia complaints. Care settings named most often: Northside Hospital Atlanta (2).

Related case summaries

Full case summaries

Read the linked case summary for the fuller allegations-only discussion.

Georgia Surgicare complaint alleges unauthorized gastric bypass during scheduled hernia repair

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that Georgia Surgicare, IBI Healthcare, and Christopher Ibikunle, M.D. performed a gastric bypass with Roux-en-Y anastomosis during a scheduled hernia repair and sleeve revision even though the plaintiff allegedly had not consented to conversion to gastric bypass.

Provider grouping: IBI Healthcare
Care setting: Georgia Surgicare, LLC
Providers involved: Georgia Surgicare, LLC / IBI Healthcare / Christopher Ibikunle, M.D. / Georgia Surgicare staff
Alleged pattern: Scheduled hernia repair and sleeve revision followed by alleged conversion to gastric bypass without consent
Claimed harm: Small bowel obstruction, emergency surgery, aspiration pneumonia, sepsis, and additional abdominal procedures

IBI HealthcareSurgical errorBariatric surgeryRead the case summary

CHOA complaint alleges child discharged despite worsening bowel-obstruction symptoms

This page concerns a pediatric emergency case at CHOA in which a physician recognized a substantial stool obstruction, unsuccessful bedside treatment did not relieve it, the child nevertheless was discharged despite worsening signs, and she returned in critical condition before dying after emergency surgery.

Provider grouping: Children’s Hospital of Atlanta
Care setting: CHOA emergency department
Providers involved: CHOA emergency department / Dr. Michael Greenwald / Nurse Gabriel Ribeiro
Alleged pattern: Substantial bowel obstruction followed by discharge home despite worsening symptoms and failed bedside treatment
Claimed harm: Wrongful death

Children’s Hospital of AtlantaPremature dischargePediatric emergency medicineRead the case summary

St. Francis complaint alleges post-operative bowel leak and sepsis after colon surgery

This page concerns a St. Francis surgical case in which an initial rectal lesion had been completely excised with clear margins, but a later major colon surgery allegedly was unnecessary and was followed by an anastomotic leak, fecal peritonitis, delayed source control, lack of immediate postoperative antibiotics, and fatal s...

Provider grouping: St. Francis Health
Care setting: St. Francis Health
Providers involved: St. Francis Health, LLC / Dr. William Taylor / Intensivists
Alleged pattern: Unnecessary colon surgery followed by delayed diagnosis and treatment of an anastomotic leak
Claimed harm: multi-organ failure and death

St. Francis HealthSepsisGeneral surgeryRead the case summary

Closed-loop bowel obstruction allegedly not treated as a surgical emergency at Emory

This page concerns a suspected closed-loop bowel obstruction at Emory, where the complaint alleges that a surgical emergency was left untreated overnight, the oncoming surgeon also did not promptly attend to the patient the next morning, and broader administrative failures contributed to the delay that cost the patient 40% of...

Provider grouping: Emory Healthcare
Care setting: Emory Healthcare
Providers involved: Emory Healthcare, Inc. / Dr. Cheickna Diarra / Dr. Darryl Tookes
Alleged pattern: Suspected closed-loop bowel obstruction followed by overnight delay, morning delay, and loss of 40% of the small intestine
Claimed harm: Forty percent loss of small intestine

Emory HealthcareDelayed treatmentEmergency medicineRead the case summary

Wellstar complaint alleges bile leak and sepsis-treatment delay after gallbladder surgery

This page concerns a cholecystectomy at Wellstar that allegedly was unnecessary and performed without informed consent, followed by bile-leak and sepsis complications that multiple providers did not timely investigate or treat, along with asserted communication and coordination failures at the system level.

Provider grouping: Wellstar Health System
Care setting: Wellstar Health System
Providers involved: Wellstar Health System, Inc. / Dr. Grant Taylor / Multiple healthcare providers / Corporate defendants
Alleged pattern: Unnecessary cholecystectomy without informed consent followed by delayed investigation and treatment of severe complications
Claimed harm: Sepsis and chronic abdominal pain

Wellstar Health SystemInformed consentGeneral surgeryRead the case summary

Grady Memorial complaint alleges trauma-care delay after abdominal evisceration

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that Grady Memorial Hospital providers delayed emergency trauma care for a patient with abdominal evisceration after a motor-vehicle collision.

Provider grouping: Grady Health System
Care setting: Grady Memorial Hospital
Providers involved: Grady Health System / Grady Memorial Hospital / David Bower / Yhaneek Douglas-Mattis / Jacob Goergen / Alison Kelley / Elizabeth Lewinger / Troy Marxen / Jonathan Nguyen / Nicole Petcka / Nicholas Rowe / Victoria Wagner / David Wright
Alleged pattern: Alleged delay in treating abdominal evisceration and alleged discharge attempt after motor-vehicle collision
Claimed harm: catastrophic internal injuries, multiple emergency surgeries, extended hospitalization, and permanent physical impairment

Grady Health SystemDelayed treatmentEmergency medicineRead the case summary

Morehouse Healthcare complaint alleges refusal to treat before appendicitis surgery

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that Morehouse Healthcare and a family-medicine physician refused to evaluate a patient with acute abdominal pain before she later required emergency appendicitis surgery.

Provider grouping: Morehouse Healthcare
Care setting: Morehouse Comprehensive Healthcare Center
Providers involved: Morehouse Healthcare, Inc. / Morehouse Comprehensive Healthcare Center / Folashade Omole, M.D. / Piedmont Hospital
Alleged pattern: Alleged refusal to evaluate acute abdominal pain because of an unpaid co-payment
Claimed harm: acute appendicitis, emergency laparoscopic appendectomy, pain, and emotional distress

Morehouse HealthcareDelayed treatmentFamily medicineRead the case summary

Piedmont Henry complaint alleges ovarian-torsion delay before ovary loss and fetal death

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that providers failed to diagnose and treat ovarian torsion in a pregnant patient with severe abdominal pain and known adnexal cysts.

Provider grouping: Piedmont Henry Hospital
Care setting: Piedmont Henry Hospital
Providers involved: Piedmont Henry Hospital, Inc. / Every Woman’s OB-GYN, LLC / Temitope Fapohunda, M.D. / Preyasi Kothari, M.D. / Reagan Burge, CNM / Kelli Kilpatrick, RN / Northside Hospital
Alleged pattern: Alleged failure to investigate severe abdominal pain in pregnancy despite known adnexal cysts
Claimed harm: ovarian torsion, loss of the right ovary, and fetal death at 21 weeks

Piedmont Henry HospitalDelayed or missed diagnosisObstetricsRead the case summary

Piedmont Eastside complaint alleges appendicitis diagnosis delay across repeat visits before perforation

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that emergency-department and primary-care providers did not diagnose appendicitis across repeated visits for abdominal pain before it perforated.

Provider grouping: Piedmont Healthcare
Care setting: Piedmont Eastside Medical Center
Providers involved: Piedmont Eastside Medical Center / Eastside Medical Center, LLC / Clement Ayanbadejo LLC d/b/a Macley Family Practice and Walk-in Clinic / Matthew T. Tinkham, M.D. / Clement O. Ayanbadejo, M.D. / The Piedmont Clinic, Inc. / Piedmont Healthcare, Inc. / Team Health, Inc. / Team Health Holdings, Inc.
Alleged pattern: Alleged failure to reassess and re-image repeated abdominal-pain presentations over about ten days
Claimed harm: perforated appendicitis with peritonitis, abscess, sepsis, and a prolonged hospitalization

Piedmont HealthcareDelayed or missed diagnosisEmergency medicineRead the case summary

Wellstar amended complaint alleges a bariatric-surgery leak went undiagnosed and surgery was delayed by transfers

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that Wellstar-affiliated hospitals did not recognize or act on a bariatric-surgery patient’s bowel obstruction and leak for days. It alleges that transfers between hospitals then delayed her emergency surgery.

Provider grouping: Wellstar Health System, Inc.
Care setting: Atlanta Medical Center
Providers involved: Wellstar Health System, Inc. / Wellstar’s Kennestone Hospital, Inc. / Wellstar Medical Group, LLC / Atlanta Medical Center, Inc. / Atlanta Medical Center Physician’s Group, LLC / Larry Hobson, M.D. / Robert Hull, M.D. / Rachel Godlewski, M.D. / Mohan Punja, M.D. / Lucas Lathrop, M.D. / Zakia Boston, PA / Richard Rivera, PA / Brandee McDonald, NP / Emily Klingman, RN / Matthew Moore, RN / Joanna Stephens, RN / Jonathan Hopson, RN / Cimone Hamiter, RN / Caitilin Sampson, RN
Alleged pattern: Alleged days-long failure to diagnose a postoperative bowel obstruction and leak, then a delayed transfer for emergency surgery
Claimed harm: sepsis, bowel perforation, and death

Wellstar Health System, Inc.Delayed or missed diagnosisBariatric surgeryRead the case summary

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite complaint alleges appendicitis missed before perforation

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that an emergency physician discharged a child with suspected appendicitis without ordering imaging or blood work.

Provider grouping: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Care setting: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite
Providers involved: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. d/b/a Scottish Rite Hospital / Martin G. Belson, M.D. / Pediatric Emergency Medicine Associates, LLC
Alleged pattern: Alleged failure to order imaging, blood work, or antibiotics for a child referred emergently for suspected appendicitis
Claimed harm: perforated gangrenous appendicitis with peritonitis in a child

Children’s Healthcare of AtlantaDelayed or missed diagnosisEmergency medicineRead the case summary

Northside Hospital Atlanta complaint alleges a newborn’s bile-colored vomiting went unreported before fatal volvulus

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that nurses did not tell a physician about a newborn’s bile-colored vomit before fatal volvulus.

Provider grouping: Northside Hospital Atlanta
Care setting: Northside Hospital Atlanta
Providers involved: Neonatology Associates of Atlanta, P.C. / Laura A. Drohan, M.D. / Northside Hospital, Inc. d/b/a Northside Hospital Atlanta
Alleged pattern: Alleged failure to report a newborn’s bile-colored vomiting and to work up bowel ischemia in time
Claimed harm: midgut volvulus, total bowel necrosis, and a newborn’s death

Northside Hospital AtlantaDelayed treatmentNeonatologyRead the case summary

Northside Hospital Gwinnett complaint alleges delayed surgical consult before fatal bowel ischemia and sepsis

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that hospital physicians did not obtain timely surgical consultation for worsening abdominal infection before a patient’s death.

Provider grouping: Northside Hospital, Inc.
Care setting: Northside Hospital Gwinnett
Providers involved: Northside Hospital, Inc. / Charles Freeman, M.D. / Timothy Kim, M.D. / Abraham Getenet, M.D. / Jawad Ilyas, M.D. / Richard Glover, D.O. / Venkata Kakarla, M.D.
Alleged pattern: Alleged failure to obtain timely surgical consultation and intraoperative cultures for worsening abdominal infection
Claimed harm: bowel ischemia, sepsis, cardiac arrest, and death

Northside Hospital, Inc.Delayed treatmentInternal medicineRead the case summary

Georgia Hemorrhoid Institute complaint alleges misplaced coils before a suspected rectal perforation and colostomy

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that a hemorrhoid-treatment practice misplaced embolization coils. It alleges staff did not recognize the resulting rectal injury from the patient’s repeated post-procedure complaints.

Provider grouping: Georgia Endovascular Associates, LLC
Care setting: Georgia Hemorrhoid Institute
Providers involved: Georgia Endovascular Associates, LLC / Georgia Hemorrhoid Institute / Kevin Theodore Lie, M.D. / Alyssa Patel, PA-C
Alleged pattern: Alleged coil misplacement during a hemorrhoidal artery embolization and failure to recognize a resulting rectal injury from post-procedure complaints
Claimed harm: rectal injury with a suspected perforation, bowel resection, and a permanent colostomy

Georgia Endovascular Associates, LLCSurgical errorInterventional radiologyRead the case summary

WellStar Paulding Hospital complaint alleges a missed colon perforation before a patient’s death

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that a surgeon did not notice a colon perforation from a gallbladder operation. It alleges a hospital nurse then delayed the patient’s return to care before he died of peritonitis.

Provider grouping: WellStar Health System, Inc.
Care setting: WellStar Paulding Hospital
Providers involved: Mark H. Middleton, M.D. / WellStar Health System, Inc.
Alleged pattern: Alleged failure to detect a colon perforation during gallbladder surgery, then a delayed response to reported symptoms
Claimed harm: fatal post-cholecystectomy peritonitis less than 36 hours after surgery

WellStar Health System, Inc.Post-operative complicationsGeneral surgeryRead the case summary

Northside Hospital amended complaint alleges delayed treatment of a worsening ileus and sepsis before a patient’s death

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that a Northside Hospital physician did not timely treat a worsening ileus and infection over several days. The patient died of septic shock.

Provider grouping: Northside Hospital, Inc.
Care setting: Northside Hospital Atlanta
Providers involved: Northside Hospital, Inc. / Prasad Malempati, M.D.
Alleged pattern: Alleged failure to timely treat a worsening ileus and evolving sepsis after repeat emergency-department visits
Claimed harm: septic shock and death

Northside Hospital, Inc.Delayed or missed diagnosisEmergency medicineRead the case summary

WellStar Kennestone complaint alleges a retained appendix before recurrent appendicitis and a second surgery

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that a surgeon did not remove a patient’s appendix during an appendectomy. A second surgery followed more than a year later.

Provider grouping: WellStar Health System
Care setting: WellStar Kennestone Hospital
Providers involved: David Elwood, MD / WellStar Surgical Associates of Marietta, LLC / WellStar Medical Group, LLC / WellStar Health System, Inc. d/b/a WellStar Kennestone Hospital
Alleged pattern: Alleged failure to identify and remove the appendix during a laparoscopic appendectomy
Claimed harm: recurrent appendicitis and a second surgery

WellStar Health SystemSurgical errorGeneral surgeryRead the case summary

Related healthcare providers

Wellstar4 case summaries Northside Hospital3 case summaries Children's Healthcare of Atlanta2 case summaries Piedmont2 case summaries Emory Healthcare1 case summary Grady1 case summary

Related Georgia opinions

Related Georgia Opinions

Supreme Court of Georgia: the medical malpractice damages cap cannot touch a verdict that also includes pain-and-suffering damages a jury was entitled to award.Reaffirming Nestlehutt under stare decisis, the Supreme Court held that OCGA § 51-13-1's $350,000 noneconomic damages cap cannot be applied at all to a verdict that includes constitutionally protected noneconomic damages — here, the estate's pre-death pain and suffering. Because the statute lumps every claimant's noneconomic damages into one capped sum and offers no way to carve a verdict apart, the Court vacated an order that had cut a $29,250,000 wrongful death award to $350,000. It expressly reserved whether the cap could reach a stand-alone wrongful death award.