CHARLESTON – A Cabell County man says a surgical error caused injuries and further medical complications.
Chester Lee Lovejoy filed his complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Charleston Area Medical Center doing business as CAMC Teays Valley Hospital and CAMC Orthopedics Teays Valley.
According to the complaint, Lovejoy injured himself when he fell backward, striking an automobile before falling to the ground, fracturing the L2 lumbar vertebral body. He was referred to Dr. James B. Cox, who arranged for an L2 lumbar vertebral body kyphoplasty at CAMC Teays Valley on May 18, 2021.
Following the procedure, Lovejoy was stable but developed urinary retention that required a Foley catheter. He was discharged two days after the procedure. But two days after that, he went to CAMC Memorial in Charleston with complaints of left lower extremity weakness and left lower quadrant abdominal pain, according to the complaint.
A CT scan revealed a large retroperitoneal hematoma. An angioplasty revealed a pseudoaneurysm of the L3 radicular artery as the source of the retroperitoneal hemorrhage, according to the complaint. The pseudoaneurysm was repaired, and Lovejoy was resuscitated and made a satisfactory recovery.
The complaint says the L3 lumbar radicular artery from the aorta is anatomically not in the surgical field described in operative notes written by Cox on May 18, 2021.
“The L3 radicular artery could only be injured during the kyphoplasty operation of May 18, 2021, if the initial needle was advanced at the level of L3 rather than at the level of L2,” the complaint states.
Lovejoy accuses CAMC of negligence as Cox’s employer. He seeks compensatory damages, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief.
He is being represented by R. Dean Hartley and Mark R. Staun of Hartley Law Group in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard.
Cox has been the focus of at least two other lawsuits involving alleged botched surgeries at CAMC Teays Valley.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-524
