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

The complaint alleges that after a transanal minimally invasive surgery fully excised a stage-T1 rectal adenocarcinoma, Dr. William Taylor recommended a major lower anterior resection that the filing characterizes as unnecessary. The later surgery involved complications including an anastomotic leak, and post-operative drainage allegedly showed a fecal leak. Dr. Taylor and intensivists did not promptly diagnose the leak, obtain timely source control, or provide immediate post-operative antibiotics before the patient died from sepsis-related multi-organ failure.

System: St. Francis Health
Facility: St. Francis Health
Providers involved: St. Francis Health, LLC / Dr. William Taylor / Intensivists
Pattern: Unnecessary colon surgery followed by delayed diagnosis and treatment of an anastomotic leak
Harm: Alleged multi-organ failure and death

Overview

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 sepsis.

Chronology

The complaint alleges as follows:

The patient underwent TAMIS in November 2019 to remove a large rectal lesion, and pathology confirmed the lesion was completely excised with clear margins.
Despite those findings, Dr. William Taylor recommended a major lower anterior resection just a few weeks later, and the patient followed that recommendation.
Dr. Taylor encountered several complications during the LAR, including an anastomotic leak that required hand-sewn repair; after surgery, the patient developed an anastomotic leak that led to fecal peritonitis.
Over the next few days, drainage showed the fecal leak, but Dr. Taylor and the intensivists did not promptly diagnose it, achieve timely surgical source control, or provide immediate postoperative antibiotics before the patient died from multi-organ failure due to sepsis.

Alleged failures

The complaint alleges the following failures:

Dr. William Taylor allegedly recommended a major lower anterior resection despite pathology showing the earlier lesion was completely excised with clear margins.
Dr. Taylor and the intensivists allegedly failed to promptly diagnose an evident anastomotic leak and obtain timely surgical source control.
Hospital staff allegedly failed to treat the patient with antibiotics in the immediate postoperative period before fatal sepsis developed.

Entities and tags

St. Francis Health, LLCDr. William TaylorTAMISLower anterior resectionAnastomotic leakFecal peritonitisIntensivistsSepsisPost-operative complicationsDelayed treatmentGeneral surgeryCritical care