Jul 13 2011
Woman Left Diabetic after Kidney Transplant Receives $1.5M Settlement
A woman who was rendered severely diabetic due to an alleged error made by surgeons finally got some good news after The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics agreed to pay $1,500,000 to settle the lawsuit brought against them for the negligence.
The patient, Nancy Kammerer, was undergoing a routine kidney transplant when surgeons accidentally cut a part of her pancreas, which subsequently required that the damaged organ be removed.
At 56-years old, Nancy is now a diabetic who will have a life-long dependency on insulin. This new aggravated condition forced her to leave her occupation at Wells Fargo. In the malpractice lawsuit, Kammerer also alleged that the surgeons were negligent because they used a medical record in her patient file that was inaccurate.
Although the hospital denied any liability in the incident (which occurred in 2008), this recent large settlement may be an indication that they feared the courts might have a different point of view.
Kidney transplantation, like any major surgery, can be very dangerous. The risk factor is one disadvantage of a kidney transplant that you may want to consider if you are a candidate for the surgery. However, unfortunate incidents like this one that Ms Kammerer experienced are in the minority of cases.