COA: Correct knee received operation.

Byline: Lee Dryden

A plaintiff's claims of an incorrect knee operation and subsequent altered medical records were rejected by a Michigan Court of Appeals panel.

In Starnes v. Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital (MiLW No. 08-99968, 5 pages), the appeals court opinion stated that the defendants produced "considerable evidence" that the plaintiff asked for a probe of his left knee, which is what occurred.

The opinion, which affirmed the Schoolcraft Circuit Court, also stated that the plaintiff's "suspicions of post-surgery alterations to the record appear to be based purely on speculation and conjecture."

The April 11 unpublished per curiam opinion was issued by Judges Brock A. Swartzle, Mark J. Cavanagh and Thomas C. Cameron.

The case

In January 2012, plaintiff Lee Starnes had an MRI performed on his right knee. In October 2013, Dr. John Galey diagnosed Starnes with arthritis and a medial meniscus tear in the right knee.

But Starnes informed Galey that the pain in his left knee was worse than in his right knee, according to the COA opinion. After an examination, Galey believed that Starnes also had a torn meniscus in his left knee and decided to perform an arthroscopy on the left knee instead of the right knee.

Starnes signed a consent form that included "an '(R)' and '(L)' for designating on which knee to perform the operation."

"Defendant (Barbara) Fik, a nurse at the hospital, circled the '(R)' on Starnes's form, but then she crossed it out and wrote her initials next to the marking. She then circled the '(L).' She testified at her deposition that these changes were made before she gave the form to Starnes to sign, and the only reason it had been changed was because she filled out the form before Dr. Galey examined Starnes and decided to perform the arthroscopy on the left knee rather than the right knee," the opinion stated.

Two other nurses confirmed that the plaintiff consented to a left knee arthroscopy and others independently verified with him that the left knee was the correct site. The left knee was "propped up, immobilized, and shaved" and marked before he was taken to the operating room.

Dr. Thomas DeBerardino, a medical expert for Starnes, stated that, "due to the aforementioned procedures, patients normally know immediately if the wrong knee is about to be operated on. He stated that there would have been a violation of the standard of care if the safeguards like the ones above had not been completed before surgery," the opinion...