West Virginia

Ann Marie Chaffins
Martinsburg, WV

Ann Marie Chaffins went to her doctor to have a procedure to remove abnormal cervical cells. Instead, her doctor removed virtually her entire cervix. The doctor did not inform Ms. Chaffins. Soon after the procedure, Ms. Chaffins noticed that she was no longer menstruating and believed that she was pregnant. In fact, the damage from the procedure had rendered her infertile and required a full hysterectomy. She can never have children as a result. It was later revealed that the doctor had committed numerous other instances of malpractice.

WV Doe

A 76 year-old man in good health fell out of a tree sustaining a Hangman's fracture of the neck. He was treated at a local hospital and referred to a neurosurgeon in Wheeling, West Virginia. The surgeons advised surgery, even though t was only a very minor fracture. While in the operating room, the neurosurgeon met a salesman who recommended using a device to secure the patient's cervical fracture. The neurosurgeon had never used the device before and had difficulty with the device. The physician never informed or asked the family for permission to use the device. The patient did not breathe following the surgery and was sent to the recovery room on a ventilator. When the patient awoke, he was not able to move his arms or legs. He was taken back to the operating room. The bone graft that was supposed to be held in place by the new device had slipped into the patient's spinal canal, paralyzing the patient. He lived for a year at a rehabilitation facility, paralyzed, on a ventilator and, fed by a tube until he died.

August 2004