Becker's Spine Review

7 SPINE Jury awards $9.2M in botched spine surgery case By Claire Wallace A jury has awarded over $9.2 million to Larry Jones in a botched spinal surgery case against Arlington, Texas, based Bianco Brain and Spine and surgeon Nikhil Patel, MD. Mr. Jones went in for a procedure to ease his lower back pain that rendered him paralyzed. The jury found Dr. Patel, who still works for Bianco, negligent in the case. "Dr. Patel was warned several times by a monitoring physician during the surgery that Mr. Jones was showing signs of neurological distress," Mr. Jones' attorney Seth McCloskey said in an Oct. 31 press release. "At all times relevant to these claims, Patel owed a duty to Larry Jones to exercise reasonable care in providing medical treatment to him. He breached this duty in performing, monitoring, and responding to various aspects of Larry Jones' spinal surgery, including, but not limited to, failing or refusing to perform a wake-up test, as well as causing neurologic harm to Larry Jones during the surgery," read court documents sent to Becker's. "But for such negligence of Dr. Patel, Larry Jones would not have been injured, nor would he have suffered serious and permanent harm. Such negligence was a proximate cause of the injuries and damages to Larry Jones and Shelley Jones." n Patient sues estate of late spine surgeon By Carly Behm P owell (Wyo.) Valley Healthcare and the estate of Clinton Devin, MD, are being sued by a former patient over a 2020 surgery, the Powell Tribune reported Nov. 25. A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Wyoming is seeking $7.5 million in damages, the report said. Sylvia Hutton alleges Dr. Devin, who died Dec. 10, 2021, in a plane crash, and PVHC were negligent in their care aer receiving a spinal fusion Dec. 17, 2020. Ms. Hutton said in the lawsuit that she had new leg pain and weakness from a hematoma at the surgical site, the report said. She alleged Dr. Devin flew to his home in Colorado aer surgery, learned of the hematoma three days later, and returned to Wyoming to remove it and readjust a screw. Dr. Devin regularly flew between Colorado and Wyoming to perform surgeries. Ms. Hutton alleged Dr. Devin "had an unreasonably high complication rate," and caused "multiple patient injuries." She said in the lawsuit she still has pain and limited mobility in her le leg. A spokesperson for PVHC told the Powell Tribune that the health system hasn't received the lawsuit and can't comment on specific details. e spokesperson said the health system "strongly disagree[s] with any allegation that [it] failed to properly credential any of the physicians involved in the case." n Barrow Brain and Spine relocates office to 6K-square- foot location By Claire Wallace P hoenix-based Barrow Brain and Spine has relocated its office in the city's Deer Valley neighborhood to a new 6,100-square-foot space, according to an Oct. 31 press release sent to Becker's. The new location will be staffed by three physicians: Mark Oppenlander, MD; Bryan Lee, MD; and Rory Murphy, MD. This is Barrow's ninth center in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Barrow employs 300 people and performs over 9,000 procedures per year across the nine facilities. "The new expanded clinic space allows our Barrow Brain and Spine, Deer Valley team to focus on our patients' experience from the moment they walk into our clinics," Luis Tumialan, MD, neurosurgery medical director for HonorHealth Deer Valley, said in the release. "The new construction creates a wonderful work environment for our staff and a serene ambience for our patients seeking care." n

• Cover