Woman Says She Told Them That She Had No Gall Bladder

HOUSTON (CN) - A woman says she told her doctors that her gall bladder had been removed, but one incorrectly read an ultrasound and misinterpreted stomach gas as gallstones. She says she was cut open and - guess what? - she had no gall bladder.

Sara Torres sued the Memorial Hermann Hospital System, its imaging center and a doctor in Harris County Court.

Sara Torres says her physician, nonparty Dr. Eduardo Wolfe, referred her to River Oaks Imaging and Diagnostic center for an ultrasound after she complained of a "history of abdominal pain radiating to her back with occasional nausea and vomiting."

"Plaintiff explained to Dr. Wolfe that she thought she had already had her gallbladder removed," Torres says. "To confirm this and rule out gallbladder disease, Dr. Wolfe ordered an abdominal ultrasound."

She says the ultrasound was done at Imaging at River Oaks Imaging and Diagnostic. Defendant Dr. Javier Villanueva-Meyer "misread the ultrasound" as gallstones, and Dr. Wolfe scheduled her for surgery to have them removed, according to the complaint.

"During the procedure and upon entering plaintiff's abdomen, Dr. Wolfe discovered the gallbladder fossa to be empty without evidence of the gallbladder, despite an ultrasound report from defendant Meyer indicating the presence of a gallbladder with cholelithiasis," the complaint states.

Torres seeks damages and punitive damages for medical negligence from Memorial Hermann Hospital System dba Memorial Hermann Imaging Centers fka River Oaks Imaging and Diagnostic, The Capstreet Group, and Dr. Villanueva-Meyer.

She is represented by Monica Vaughan of the Houston firm Houssiere Durant.

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