MyFoxChicago com 07-28-2009 (Knee Operation)

Doctor Sued For Operating on Wrong Knee

Published : Tuesday, 28 Jul 2009, 7:40 PM CDT

A man who claims doctors “surgically invaded’ the wrong knee during replacement surgery at a west suburban hospital has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

Krzysztof Kordes filed the suit Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court against Dr. Scott A. Seymore, surgical assistant Lukasz Sidorowicz and the Orthopaedic Associates of Riverside for the May 6, 2008 botched right-knee operation that left him with cartilage damage to his left knee.

Kordes was admitted to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn on May 6, 2008 for right knee arthroscopy, right knee partial lateral meniscectomy and right knee ACL reconstruction, the suit said. Seymour and Sidorowicz allegedly prepped Kordes’ left knee and began performing replacement surgery on his left knee.

At some point, however, both the surgeon and surgical assistant realized they were operating on the wrong knee and began removing the surgical instruments and sutured the incisions on his left knee, the suit alleges.

The doctors then continued to operate on his right knee, as planned.

The five-count medical negligence suit alleges the defendants should have realized they were intended to perform surgery on his right knee and failed to ensure surgery would not be performed on the wrong body part.

The suit also claims Seymour and Sidorowicz failed to document in their medical records that they “surgically invaded” the wrong knee. Kordes was later diagnosed with chondromalaci patealla to his left knee — a general term indicating damage to the cartilage under your kneecap, according to the MayoClinic Web site.

The five-count medical negligence suit seeks more than $50,000 on each count, plus the costs of the suit

Note: Attorney Thomas Zimmerman filed a medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of the patient.