An Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector went to a Colorado Springs hospital for a hernia operation but ended up requiring treatment for facial fractures after he fell face-first off an operating table and onto the floor, a federal lawsuit alleges.
Walter Stricklin, 63, sued Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs and surgical staff including a surgeon and an anesthesiologist on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver.
Stricklin is seeking unspecified damages above $75,000 for lost earnings, severe injuries and quality of life impairment, according to the lawsuit filed by Denver attorneys Bruce Braley and Brian Aleinikoff.
When contacted Wednesday about the lawsuit, Penrose spokeswoman Andrea Sinclair said she and the hospital’s attorney are working on a statement about the incident.
On Jan. 17, 2018, a Penrose surgical team had just inserted a surgical instrument into Stricklin’s abdomen in preparation for laparoscopic surgery when the patient rolled off the operating table face-first, crashed into a metal IV stand and tumbled onto the floor, according to the lawsuit.
The impact fractured bones in Stricklin’s face. Concerned over the possibility of traumatic brain injury and spinal injury, the medical staff aborted the hernia operation and immediately placed him in a cervical collar and on a backboard, the lawsuit says.
It wasn’t until after he underwent a CT scan that Stricklin was taken back into the operating room to remove the surgical equipment from his abdomen, the lawsuit says.
Subsequent traumatic brain injury evaluations determined that Stricklin had difficulty with full sentence recall, post-concussive symptoms, facial pain and a headache, according to the lawsuit.
He underwent a 12-week physical therapy regimin because of shoulder, jaw and neck pain.
