HUNTINGTON —A Cabell County man is suing a physician he claims caused him injury during a procedure.
Dencil M. McGrew underwent a CT-guided cryoablation of a left renal mass with a CT-guided biopsy of a left renal mass by Dr. Nathan R. Hatfield on Oct. 15, 2019, according to a complaint filed in Cabell Circuit Court.
McGrew claims the defendant recognized and understood that McGrew's colon was in close proximity to his kidney, and was supposed to do a hydrodissection to create a pocket of water that separates the kidney and the colon to protect the colon from injury.
However, the water injection most likely migrated away from the intended area prior to the cryoablation, thus rendering the immediately adjacent colon at risk to freezing injury and Hatfield continued on with the procedure, according to the complaint.
McGrew claims he became I'll after the procedure due to the injury to his colon and had another CT on Nov. 13, 2019, that showed an abscess in the area of Hatfield's intervention and had to undergo another surgery on Nov. 22, 2019.
The plaintiff alleges that Hatfield was negligent in his standard of care by failing to recognize that the hydrodissection was unsuccessful prior to performing the cryablation.
"As a direct and proximate result of Dr. Hatfield's acts and/or failures to act and negligence, Mr. McGrew incurred medical expenses for his care and treatment," the complaint states.
McGrew claims had Hatfield followed the accepted standard of care, it would have resulted in a greater than 25% chance that McGrew would not have suffered the colonic injury and the subsequent procedure.
McGrew is seeking compensatory damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. He is represented by R. Dean Hartley and Mark R. Staun of Hartley Law Group in Charleston; and Jeffrey G. Blaydes of Blaydes Law in Charleston.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Alfred Ferguson.
Cabell Circuit Court case number: 22-C-100