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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Doctor Says He Got Some Bad Medicine

CHICAGO (CN) - A doctor who specializes in pain management got some pain of his own when a clinic's nurse broke off a needle in his back, necessitating a 3-hour operation to remove it, he claims in court.

Dr. Ossama Abdellatif sued the Fullerton Surgery Center in Cook County Court.

Abdellatif specializes in "interventional pain," he says in the complaint.

He went to the defendant clinic in Chicago last October "for a pain injection to treat pain he was then experiencing in his back."

The complaint continues: "The pain injection procedure was performed on the plaintiff, Ossama Abdellatif, at defendant, Fullerton Surgery Center, Ltd., on October 29, 2012 by a non-licensed surgical assistant, named Hector, assisted by an unlicensed operating room nurse, named Danni or Danny.

"During performance of said procedure, the hypodermic needle used in the injection broke and a fragment became lodged in the plaintiff Ossama Abdellatif's back.

"Hector, the unlicensed surgical assistant, and Danni (or Danny), the unlicensed operating room nurse, for approximately one hour unsuccessfully attempted to remove the broken piece of the needle from the plaintiff Ossama Abdellatif's back. While doing so, they pushed the needle further into the plaintiff's back."

During the next few days, his back became red and inflamed.

"On November 2, 2012, the plaintiff, Ossama Abdellatif, M.D., underwent a CT scan of his thoracic spine which revealed a short needle fragment in the inferior margin of the left trapezius muscle at the level of the mid back," he says in the complaint.

"On November 3, 2012, the plaintiff, Ossama Abdellatif, M.D., then presented himself to Our Lady of the Resurrection Hospital, where he underwent a three hour operation to remove the needle fragment lodged deep inside the muscle compartment parallel to the scapula on the left side medially. ...

"(A)s a direct and proximate result of the aforesaid conduct by the defendant, Fullerton Surgery Center, Ltd., the plaintiff Ossama Abdellatif, M.D., sustained severe and permanent injuries and damage, suffering great pain and increased morbidity, and requiring additional surgery."

He seeks more than $50,000 in damages for negligence, breach of contract and fraud.

He is represented by Henry Gruss.

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