Scott's Family Files Malpractice LawsuitThe family of Detroit City Councilwoman Brenda Scott has retained attorney Geoffrey Fieger following her sudden death this week. He has been hired to bring legal action against those responsible for her death.
Fieger is currently out of the country, but he tells Action News by phone that a second autopsy has been performed. He says both the second autopsy, along with the medical examiner's, show that Scott's stomach was punctured. He says that is malpractice.
As the city mourns the untimely passing of Councilwoman Brenda Marie Scott, Fieger is preparing a wrongful death lawsuit against Port Huron and Receiving hospitals on behalf of her family.
"This is a tragedy that could have and should have been prevented. Brenda's death was the result of the failure to perform the stomach banding surgery correctly. During the procedure they poked a hole in her stomach. The doctors from the hospital didn't recognize it. They discharged Brenda before she was stable," said Fieger.
Before she died, Ms. Scott spent four hours at Detroit Receiving Hospital, precious time that Fieger says was wasted.
"Detroit Receiving was obviously aware Brenda had gone through the surgery. They needed to perform a CAT scan almost immediately, and that CAT scan would have shown fluid in Brenda's abdomen, which is a surgical emergency. She should have been taken into the operating room immediately."
Reconvening for the first time Wednesday, heart broken council members set aside Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as days of mourning.
"At this time I would like a moment of silence for Ms. Brenda M. Scott, our colleague," said one council member
It was difficult for them to sit near her seat that they have draped in black and adorned with flowers. Adding to their grief, haunting questions about the quality of care Brenda received, and concerns about a society that promotes fast food and at the very same time unrealistic standards of beauty.
"I think in this country we're obsessed with not only standards of beauty as set by the fashion industry, but we're also overwhelmed with advertising for food, and often times the food is unhealthy," said Maryann Mahaffey, Detroit City Council President.
In regards to the lawsuit, Action News has contacted both hospitals, and is still waiting for an official comment.
Councilwoman dies of stomach infection after weight-loss operation
Geoff retained by family
Brenda Scott died from a severe infection in her stomach, only three days after having stomach-reduction surgery, the Wayne County Medical Examiner ruled Tuesday after an autopsy on the three-term councilwoman.
Her stomach lining had somehow been perforated, according to the coroner's office.The medical examiner classified the abrupt death as accidental, caused by a condition called peritonitis, administrator Steve Brown said.
The 47-year-old Detroit politician -- who was 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighed 361 pounds, according to the autopsy -- on Friday had a new kind of stomach surgery at Port Huron Hospital to lose weight. The procedure typically involves five or six small incisions to implant an adjustable ring around the stomach. Patients generally go home the next day.
The appeal of that operation and others like it reflect a recognition that diets don't work for many severely overweight people. More than 63,000 Americans are expected to have stomach-reduction surgery this year, a surge of more than 160 percent in five years, according to a medical society.
The procedures, performed under general anesthetic, have lower mortality rates than other forms of surgery -- but risks do exist, and patients must sign a form before surgery acknowledging that they are aware of the risks.
Scott's fatality is the first known post-operative death since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the implant in June 2001, according to an executive of INAMED Corp., which markets the device from its headquarters in Santa Barbara, Calif. Another U.S. patient died in the operating room from a cut vein before getting the implant, company Vice President Ron Ehmsen said.
Before the autopsy results came out, company executives said they were following Scott's case closely to make sure the unidentified Port Huron surgeons followed the company's safety procedures. The medical examiner's report did not suggest how the stomach lining had been punctured.
"Any surgical procedure has a risk attached," said Ehmsen, who oversees clinical and regulatory affairs at the California firm. "We're being very fastidious to make sure that physicians are properly trained in the placement of the devices. ... We understand (Scott's) procedure itself was routine and went normally and was fairly straightforward."
Hours later, spokesman Douglas Trigg said he did not want to comment on the autopsy finding until executives reviewed the full document.
Complained of pain
Scott left the hospital Saturday morning. By Sunday night, she complained of abdominal pain and was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital. She died Monday morning.
The LAP-BAND procedure, first used by doctors nearly a decade ago in Europe, includes sewing a ring around the stomach. The device is then filled with saline solution, which causes it to tighten, only allowing a portion of stomach to digest food. As a result, the patient feels full after smaller portions and can lose weight.
"Other types of (surgical) procedures intended to treat obesity are ... traumatic because they require a lot more manipulating and cutting," said Ehmsen of the California medical device firm.
Executives at Port Huron Hospital would not comment beyond acknowledging that Scott was a patient and that the procedure doesn't involve a long stay. "They're usually in one day and out the next," said Dr. Kevin Sullivan, medical director.
Asked how many people have had LAP-BAND surgery since the hospital's special clinic for the procedure opened, Sullivan cited legal concerns and said: "We aren't talking about any of that."
The legal concern was validated later Tuesday, when Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger sent news outlets a statement that Scott's family had hired him "to bring appropriate legal proceedings against those responsible for her untimely death."