Man Sues hospital For allegedly Misplacing Part Of His Skull And Charging Him For Replacement

A Georgia man named Fernando Cluster is suing an Atlanta hospital for allegedly losing a nearly 28-square-inch piece of his skull following a routine procedure and then being charged for a synthetic replacement when the hospital was unable to locate it according to a complaint obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on August 8.

Mr. Cluster reportedly checked into Emory University Hospital Midtown in September 2022 for an intracerebral haemorrhage, also known as a brain bleed, and doctors determined a 4.7-by-6 inch piece of his skull needed to be removed in order to reduce pressure.

However, upon revisiting the hospital two months later to have the piece of skull replaced, the hospital was unable to locate it amid a pile of other unidentified bone fragments from other patients’ bodies.

“We inspected the freezer where bone flaps are stored and could not find a bone flap with Mr. Cluster’s patient identification,” a note left by hospital staff in Cluster’s medical file read.

“There were several bone flaps with incomplete or missing patient identification, but we could not be certain which if any of these belonged to Mr. Cluster.”

Cluster’s surgery was cancelled while the hospital built a synthetic piece of skull to cover the hole in his head caused by the removal, which left him with a big depression on the right side of his skull.

By the end of November, the replacement had been implanted into Cluster’s head, but the hospital charged him more than $19,000 for the synthetic bone to replace what they had purportedly lost. However, Cluster’s horror was far from done.

After the synthetic bone was put, he developed an infection, had another surgery, and was unable to work for some time.

Cluster’s bill by the end of his ordeal had risen to $146,800, and the hospital allegedly never offered him or his wife any treatment discounts.

“While my clients are obviously upset that they and their insurance company were billed for the costs related to Emory’s negligence, I’m sure you can understand that their focus is on the egregiousness of Emory losing a part of his body and then having a flippant attitude about it afterwards,” Cluster’s attorney Chloe Dallaire told the Journal-Constitution.

Cluster and his wife are requesting that the hospital pay them for medical expenses and mental distress.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli