The family of a patient who survived colon cancer surgery in 2021 but died eight days after a follow-up procedure in 2022 is suing the surgeon and Bridgeport, Conn.-based St. Vincent's Medical Center, among other entities, alleging medical negligence caused her death, CT Post reported Aug. 21.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 6, names St. Vincent's Medical Center, St. Vincent's MultiSpecialty Group, Hartford HealthCare Medical Group, Hartford HealthCare Medical Group Specialists and Daniel Lavy, MD, the colorectal and general surgeon who performed a series of surgeries on Luzina Galberth. Ms. Galberth died July 29, 2022.
Ms. Galberth underwent surgery July 21, 2022, to close a loop ileostomy, the CT Post reported. The complaint alleges Dr. Lavy failed to assess the integrity of Ms. Galberth's anastomosis to determine whether there was any abnormal narrowing or evidence of a leak.
In the days following the surgery, Ms. Galberth developed symptoms suggesting a leak at the anastomosis and peritonitis, a life-threatening inflammation that can occur when intestinal contents spill into the abdomen.
According to the complaint, Dr. Lavy and St. Vincent's Medical Center did not intervene until July 25, 2022, when it was too late. Ms. Galberth died four days later from complications related to the surgery.
"We cannot comment on pending litigation," Hartford spokesperson Tina Varona told Becker's in a statement.