Surgeon Sued for Concealing Lost Blade in Patient’s Shoulder
Law360 (March 29, 2024, 5:02 PM EDT) — A surgeon with Connecticut Orthopaedics lost a scalpel blade during an operation in 2018 and tried to cover his tracks when X-rays revealed it had been sewn into the patient’s shoulder, a federal lawsuit alleges.
James Cooney of Baldwin Place, New York, claimed in his Thursday complaint in the District of Connecticut that Dr. Aaron Schachter fraudulently concealed his surgical malpractice for five years, causing permanent and life-altering injuries that could become fatal. Imaging of Cooney’s shoulder after an unrelated injury in 2023 showed the blade in his right shoulder, requiring a second operation by a different surgeon to remove it, he said.
“Predictably, after years of delay, the blade could not be removed from plaintiff’s shoulder in one piece, as It was friable, disintegrating and falling apart,” the complaint said. “This degradation of the metal is tangible evidence of the microscopic metal particles which create toxic metallosis, which can become clinically evident at any point between nine months and many years later.”
Cooney is represented by John L. Leifert of Denlea & Carton LLP.
