Brent Adams & Associates Legal Blog

Family Claims Doctor Punctured Woman's Lung During Surgery

The surviving spouse and child of a deceased woman have filed suit, alleging that her death was due to the personal injury of having her lung punctured during surgery.

According to the suit James Martin and Connie Clause filed against Dr. Mohammed Islam in Texas’ Jefferson County District Court on May 6, Dorothy Martin was admitted to Promise Specialty Hospital of Southeast Texas on February 20, 2008. During her stay, she underwent a surgical procedure conducted by Dr. Islam to insert a right subclavian venous central line.

The suit says that sometime during the procedure, Dr. Islam punctured Dorothy Martin’s lung, resulting in her condition deteriorating. The suit says she was discharged from the hospital on March 5, 2008 and died two weeks later, on March 19, 2008, due to complications arising from the iatrogenic injury.

The suit claims that prior to her death, Dorothy Martin incurred medical expenses, experienced physical pain, mental anguish and suffering, and physical impairment. Additionally, James Martin and Connie Clause incurred funeral and burial costs and lost Dorothy Martin’s care, maintenance, support, services, advice, counsel, contributions, companionship, society and inheritance and experienced mental anguish.

The suit alleges negligence on the part of Dr. Islam for failure to provide proper care and treatment, failure to properly perform the elective procedure, failure to provide proper follow-up care, failure to provide proper post-surgical care, failure to use reasonable care , failure to treat Dorothy Martin’s symptoms after the unsuccessful operation, failure to thoroughly examine her in spite of repeated complaints, and failure to properly diagnose the post-surgical complications.

James Martin and Connie Clause seek damages within Jefferson County’s jurisdictional limits.