Qld: Patients pursue doctor, hospitals over care

AAP General News (Australia)
04-06-2010
Qld: Patients pursue doctor, hospitals over care

By Kym Agius

BRISBANE, April 6 AAP - Nine patients who had radical weight loss surgery plan to sue
a doctor and two private hospitals claiming they suffered brain damage, infections and
malnutrition.

Lawyers for the group claim a 10th patient died as a result of negligent pre- and post-operative
care related to stomach surgery and a subsequent cosmetic procedure.

The law firm Maurice Blackburn is representing all 10 patients and has applied to the
Supreme Court of Queensland for permission to proceed with the civil suits.

Action is planned against Dr Russell Broadbent and the Allamanda and Pindara private
hospitals on the Gold Coast.

Maurice Blackburn senior associate Sarah Atkinson said the patients underwent bilio-pancreatic
diversion (BPD) surgery between 1999 and 2005 at the two hospitals.

She says the patients have significant ongoing conditions including malnutrition, severe
infection, brain damage, severe fatigue and osteoporosis.

Ms Atkinson said permission was being sought from the court to allow all the cases
to proceed, as a three-year statute of limitations had expired.

"We'd be hoping for significant awards for compensation," she told reporters in Brisbane
on Tuesday.

"We're not arguing the performance of the surgery was done negligently - it's the advice
that the patients were given before and after the operation(s) about what to eat and levels
of exercise ... and the diets they were put on didn't give sufficient nutrients."

BPD surgery removes a portion of the stomach and affects how calories, minerals and
nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream.

Caroline Shaw was 34 and weighed 148kg when she underwent the surgery in September 2005.

She said she was in and out of hospital for three months after the operation, and it
didn't stop there.

"I was so undernourished," she told reporters.

"I was exceptionally ill and septic, when they found I had a fistula that had formed
through my diaphragm from the stomach to my left lung.

"I got pneumonia. I've had a number of bowel blockages that are excruciatingly painful.

I've lost half of my hair, my toe nails fell off. I had anaemia, too.

"I have six pain medications, I'm drugged to the nines.

"I'd rather be overweight and happy than the weight I am now and miserable every day."

Ms Atkinson said another patient of Dr Broadbent, Wayne Schafer, died from a blood
clot in June 2002, a day after having cosmetic surgery at the Allamanda Hospital to remove
excess skin.

He had undergone BDP surgery six months earlier.

Ms Atkinson said Dr Broadbent had voluntarily handed in his registration, and the Health
Practitioners Tribunal would decide if it should be surrendered for life.

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KEYWORD: BROADBENT (WITH PIX, VIDEO)

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