Weis claims malpractice in surgery ND coach says doctors failed to identify complications Posted: Tuesday February 13, 2007 11:56AM; Updated: Tuesday February 13, 2007 4:37PM http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/ncaa/02/13/weis.malpractice.ap/index.html BOSTON (AP) -- The lawyer for Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said Tuesday that doctors failed to recognize life-threatening complications after Weis' gastric bypass surgery, allowing him to bleed internally for more than a day. Weis' lawyer, Michael Mone, made his comments at the start of the coach's malpractice trial. Weis had the surgery in June 2002 while he was an assistant coach for the New England Patriots after battling obesity for years. He weighed about 350 pounds at the time. Weis alleges in the lawsuit that Massachusetts General Hospital physicians Charles Ferguson and Richard Hodin acted negligently and left Weis so close to death that he received the Roman Catholic sacrament of last rites. He was in a coma for two weeks. The doctors maintain they did nothing wrong. Weis reported complications, including difficulty breathing, in the early morning a day after his surgery, Mone said in an opening statement in Suffolk Superior Court. The following day, doctors performed another surgery to fix problems caused by the initial procedure. "For more than 30 hours, Mr. Weis continued to bleed," Mone said. William J. Dailey Jr., an attorney for the doctors, told jurors the doctors acted appropriately and that Weis was believed to be in good condition the morning of the second procedure. "There was no carelessness," Dailey said. "Unfortunately, Mr. Weis experienced one of the complications that is known to exist." Ferguson performed the surgery, then left for the weekend. Hodin was charged with caring for Ferguson's patients while the doctor was gone, and performed the follow-up surgery. Weis, who is seeking unspecified damages, could testify Wednesday. He and his wife, Maura, sat in the front row during testimony Tuesday. Mone said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who visited Weis in the hospital, also could testify this week. In a gastric bypass, an egg-sized pouch in the upper stomach is created by stapling it off from the rest of the organ and then connected to the small intestine. The most dangerous complication is leakage from any of the connections. In Weis' case, the connection between the pouch and the small intestine leaked. Mone claimed Hodin failed to conduct a diagnostic test in which the patient swallows a solution that radiologists track to find leaks. He said that by Saturday morning, Weis was showing "classic signs" of internal bleeding. "He should have intervened at that point," Mone said. "He chose not to operate. It was not going to correct itself." But Dailey said a CT scan of Weis on Saturday showed no evidence of a leak. He said doctors were concerned that Weis' breathing problems may have been a pulmonary embolism, in which an artery in the lung becomes blocked. The scan also ruled that out, however. "There was no evidence that this leak was present on Saturday at all," Dailey said. Weis removed his own breathing tube at 9 p.m. Saturday, Dailey pointed out. Jennifer Wilson, an intensive care nurse who was assigned to care for Weis, testified she eventually became concerned there was internal bleeding. She consulted with a different doctor Sunday to order the "barium swallow" test, which occurred at 3 p.m. that day. A leak was detected, and surgery was conducted two hours later. "He spent days at death's door," Mone said of Weis' condition after the second surgery. Five years later, Weis still suffers nerve damage in his legs as a result, Mone said. Weis became interested in the surgery after learning that Al Roker, weatherman of NBC's "Today" show, had gastric bypass surgery in 2002. The American Society for Bariatric Surgery estimates more than 177,000 Americans had weight-loss surgery in 2006, up from 47,000 in 2001. Five to 10 percent of patients suffer major complications, Dailey said, and about 1 in 200 die.
"Five to 10 percent of patients suffer major complications, Dailey said, and about 1 in 200 die" I think I'd take change my diet to include giving up food altogether before tempting fate with those odds. This is an unfortunate story - but he's done very well for himself since.
whatever, he never heard of a stationary bike? the only people i understand having gastric bypass are complete land monsters who are close to their own blubbery fate. and no i dont hate fat people, I find the procedure un-natural and horribly risky. so those are the complications you get for trying to cheat yourself out of self loathing.
Wait a minute, it says complications include developing a leak, and he..developed a leak....and this suddenly becomes the doctor's fault? What am I missing here. the fact another doctor failed to notice this?
Updated: Feb. 20, 2007, 11:48 AM ET Mistrial declared in Weis trial after juror collapsesAssociated Press BOSTON -- A judge declared a mistrial Tuesday in a medical malpractice case brought by Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis after a juror collapsed and several doctors -- including the two defendants -- rushed to his aid. The juror, an unidentified older man, began moaning as he listened to an expert testifying in defense of Massachusetts General Hospital surgeons Charles Ferguson and Richard Hodin. Weis claims they botched his care after gastric bypass surgery in June 2002. The judge immediately ordered the other jurors out of the courtroom, but some saw Ferguson, Hodin and other doctors who were in the courtroom rush to the juror's aid. An attorney for Weis said it was with "great reluctance" that he ask for the mistrial in the case that was expected to go to the jury Wednesday. "I cannot think of an instance there would be more reason then when a juror has this kind of incident," attorney Michael Moan said, noting some jurors had seen the doctors attending to the juror. A lawyer for the doctors said a mistrial would be unfair to the surgeons, who had rearranged their schedules to accommodate Weis, who is in the offseason for football. Judge Charles Spurlock, however, agreed that a mistrial was needed. "The integrity of the court is more important than schedules," Spurlock said. The juror collapsed while listening to the testimony of Dr. David Brooks, an expert who was saying the doctors acted responsibly in their treatment of Weis. Spectators were ordered out of the courtroom shortly after the man fell ill. He was taken away in an ambulance; his condition and identity were not immediately known. Weis accuses Ferguson and Hodin of acting negligently by failing to recognize life-threatening internal bleeding and infection after his surgery. The trial, which featured testimony from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, was entering its second week. Spurlock consulted with both sets of lawyers and spoke to the jurors after the man fell ill. One juror said he did not know if he could put the incident out of his mind in his deliberations. William Dailey Jr., the lawyer for the doctors, said he wanted the trial to go on, saying a mistrial "would be terribly unfair to these doctors." "They responded the way they were trained to do," he said. "They simply stood up and tried to help."
Let me get this straight.....the trial was scheduled around Charlie Weis' free time and not the men who perform life saving operations on a regular basis? Is that not a prime example of what is F-d up about this country?
I still can't figure out how this is malpractice. If the doctor failed to see something that was there, then I should have sued my doctors 6 years ago. Weis developed something, and it's the doc's fault?
I think his case is that it took them too long to realise that the complication had developed and that the delay endangered his life.
