A Jasper couple filed a malpractice lawsuit against Mercy Joplin, Mercy Clinic Joplin, and David C. Bendorf, M. D. alleging a botched colon resection surgery.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in Jasper County Circuit Court, a series of mishaps during the preparation for the surgery and the surgery itself left Tammy Klenklen with "permanent and -progressive harms," including "prolonged hospitalizations, medicines, surgeries, therapies, and doctor’s visits, all at substantial cost."
In addition to Klenklen's allegations of medical negligence, Klenklen's husband, Kevin Klenklen, is suing for lack of consortium.
From the petition:
On or about November 13, 2023, Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen presented to the emergency department of Mercy Hospital with a chief complaint of abdominal pain and distention.A CT scan of Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen’s abdomen/pelvis revealed a circumferential colonic mass in the sigmoid colon. Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen was admitted to Mercy Hospital for further workup,
including a colonoscopy that was planned for the next day.
Plaintiff was given bowel prep the day before the planned colonoscopy, but due to significant nausea and vomiting she was unable to tolerate the bowel prep. Therefore, the colonoscopy was performed without prep.
A partial colonoscopy was performed the next day, November 14, 2023, wherein it was reported that the “the quality of the bowel preparation was poor.” The findings of the colonoscopy were that the sigmoid colon was grossly redundant and strictured, and a surgical consultation was recommended.
Defendant David Bendorf, MD, a general surgeon, evaluated Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen on November 14, 2023, and recommended surgical resection of the sigmoid stricture in the colon. Defendant Bendorf ordered another course of bowel prep in anticipation of the resection surgery.
Plaintiff began taking the bowel prep around 7:00 p.m. on November 15, 2023. Defendant Bendorf examined Plaintiff preoperatively at or around 10:15 a.m. on November 16 and noted that while Plaintiff was able to get the bowel prep down, her bowel movements were still “pretty brown.” Dr. Bendorf planned to proceed with robotic colon resection surgery as scheduled.
During the bowel resection surgery, Defendant Bendorf transected through the bowel to create two open segments of bowel. While preparing for anastomosis (reconnection) of the two open bowel ends, the anvil for the EEA stapler became lost in Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen’s proximal colon.
Defendant Bendorf left one end of the bowel open while he attempted to search for the missing anvil. During the search for the anvil, peristalsis of the open bowel caused a large amount of frank stool to leak into the abdominal cavity.
Due to the large leakage of stool, Ms. Klenklen developed intra-operative hypotension requiring multiple pressors; therefore, the surgery was abandoned without attempting the anastomosis to reconnect the ends of the open bowel. Instead, a colostomy was created by rerouting the bowel up through an incision in the abdomen.
Postoperatively, Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen quickly became severely septic in response to the fecal contamination of her abdomen that occurred during surgery. Rapid Response was called early on the morning of November 17 and Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.
Due to the large leakage of stool, Ms. Klenklen developed intra-operative hypotension requiring multiple pressors; therefore, the surgery was abandoned without attempting the anastomosis to reconnect the ends of the open bowel. Instead, a colostomy was created by rerouting the bowel up through an incision in the abdomen.
Postoperatively, Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen quickly became severely septic in response to the fecal contamination of her abdomen that occurred during surgery. Rapid Response was called early on the morning of November 17 and Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.
Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen developed septic shock, causing significant renal failure requiring dialysis, respiratory failure, and volume overload requiring noninvasive ventilatory assistance with BiPAP, among other complications. Her colostomy became necrotic and she had to undergo surgical debridement.
Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen also developed an extensive necrotizing infection involving the skin and subcutaneous tissues down to the fascia of her lower abdomen.
Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen remained hospitalized at Mercy Hospital Joplin until January 4, 2024. Following her discharge, she required extensive follow-up care including surgery to take-down her colostomy.
Plaintiff Tammy Klenklen remained hospitalized at Mercy Hospital Joplin until January 4, 2024. Following her discharge, she required extensive follow-up care including surgery to take-down her colostomy.
The Klenklens are represented by Patrick Martucci of Johnson, Vorhees and Martucci.
4 comments:
Wow, Mercy again? This is not even on MO Casenet that I can see? Interesting….
Again, there is a reason that all these Physician's practice in Southwest Missouri, they are not the cream of the crop - just because someone can hang their degree on the wall does not mean they graduated at the top of their class it just means they passed. If you can afford or your insurance offers you the opportunity to see Physicians at larger institutions or specialists in bigger cities - you may want to start there.
Exactly follow the money. It might be an inconvenience to you to travel but your health is priceless.
There is a reason good healthcare professionals don't stay at Mercy long. Short cuts happen and they protect their favorites and themselves first and foremost.
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