I am in NC actually trying to find out some info for my brother who is from NC but he is in a Federal Prison in Kentucky, he is due to be out in May of this year. We are having problems getting in touch with a lawyer to help us figure out what to do. He had a liver biopsy done at the prison on 12/11/08, he said that the doctor was suppose to extract 3 pieces of liver out to test to make sure his liver was ok, well his doctor pulled out 2 pieces of liver and 3 times missed, the doctor left it at that, he told the nurse, this is not liver tissue, he didn't check to see what he had hit. After leaving the doctor, he went back to his job there and started to get sick, he went back to the doctors office and they told him it was normal to feel sick and sent him back to work. The next day and the whole weekend he was really sick and was hurting really bad, the nurses at the prison and the guards kept telling him it was normal.
On 12/15/08 they woke everyone for breakfast and my brother could not hardly move, he was sick, sweating and hurting really bad, the guard went to get the nurse to come see him but she said that my brother needed to come to her, my brother couldn't because he couldn't walk, he was going in and out of consciousness. Finally the nurse came up and checked him and his temperature was over 102, the next thing he remembers is waking up in an ambulance, then waking up in a hospital room with the doctor standing over him that did this, saying that he has to go to surgery immediately, he leaned over and asked my brother straight out, "Are you going to sue me?" Well of course with my brother having no idea of what was going on, just knowing that he was going into surgery said "no". He went into surgery not having any idea of why or what was going on.
When he woke up from surgery the next day (12/16/08) he was shackled, hands and feet to the bed in a hospital room with his stomach cut open from his ribs down to his belly button. (Hands and feet, not really necessary, with the surgery he had just had he wasn't going anywhere and he's not a killer or a rapist, he got in trouble for testing positive on a drug test while he was on parole) Not knowing what had happened, he asked the nurses, they would not tell him. No one called me, or my Mom to let us know anything. He stayed in the hospital from the 15th to the 20th without having any idea of what happened, why he was cut open, or what kind of surgery he had. He also got pneumonia during his stay there.
On the 19th he was sent back to the prison with pneumonia, where he did not get to eat for 2 or 3 days because they would not allow his cellmate to bring him his food and he could not walk to go get it because he was so sore and was still recovering from surgery.
Finally about 2 weeks later he found out why he had had surgery, it was because when the doctor was doing the liver biopsy and missed those 3 times, he punctured my brothers intestines and his lung cavity. The 4 days that he was in pain and really sick, his lungs were feeling with blood, his stomach was filling up with feces and blood and they said that by the time he got to the hospital his pelvis was filled with blood. The doctor that read the records to him, said that he was a dead man when they got to him that day, he wasn't going to say much but that he needed to get a lawyer ASAP.
Now today is Feb. 25th, my brother just found out about 3 weeks ago, why he is still in so much pain, they took out a big piece of his large intestine while he was in surgery, the new doctor said that he would most likely live with that pain for the rest of his life. My brother was told that he needed to file something called administrative remedies and a federal torque, I don't know what these things are, last time I spoke to him, he was trying to file them.
Every lawyer that I have called and he has called has told us that they don't mess with federal? What does this mean? Does that mean since he was botched up in a federal prison by a doctor that he cannot get any justice for this? Or does it mean that we need to find a different type of lawyer?
The warden at the prison has stopped all Liver Biopsy's from taking place there, she told my brother that herself, she also told him that she could not blame him for anything that he may do, as far as legal action goes. Now today, the doctors and the warden are telling him that he is wasting his time filing papers or trying to get a lawsuit going because the doctor has resigned and has disappeared and that they do not have the records of his liver biopsy, they have been lost. And, yes these are the people that were encouraging him in the first place to file a lawsuit against the doctor. If there is a lawyer out there that can give us advice or would like to take this case we would be extremely grateful.
On 12/15/08 they woke everyone for breakfast and my brother could not hardly move, he was sick, sweating and hurting really bad, the guard went to get the nurse to come see him but she said that my brother needed to come to her, my brother couldn't because he couldn't walk, he was going in and out of consciousness. Finally the nurse came up and checked him and his temperature was over 102, the next thing he remembers is waking up in an ambulance, then waking up in a hospital room with the doctor standing over him that did this, saying that he has to go to surgery immediately, he leaned over and asked my brother straight out, "Are you going to sue me?" Well of course with my brother having no idea of what was going on, just knowing that he was going into surgery said "no". He went into surgery not having any idea of why or what was going on.
When he woke up from surgery the next day (12/16/08) he was shackled, hands and feet to the bed in a hospital room with his stomach cut open from his ribs down to his belly button. (Hands and feet, not really necessary, with the surgery he had just had he wasn't going anywhere and he's not a killer or a rapist, he got in trouble for testing positive on a drug test while he was on parole) Not knowing what had happened, he asked the nurses, they would not tell him. No one called me, or my Mom to let us know anything. He stayed in the hospital from the 15th to the 20th without having any idea of what happened, why he was cut open, or what kind of surgery he had. He also got pneumonia during his stay there.
On the 19th he was sent back to the prison with pneumonia, where he did not get to eat for 2 or 3 days because they would not allow his cellmate to bring him his food and he could not walk to go get it because he was so sore and was still recovering from surgery.
Finally about 2 weeks later he found out why he had had surgery, it was because when the doctor was doing the liver biopsy and missed those 3 times, he punctured my brothers intestines and his lung cavity. The 4 days that he was in pain and really sick, his lungs were feeling with blood, his stomach was filling up with feces and blood and they said that by the time he got to the hospital his pelvis was filled with blood. The doctor that read the records to him, said that he was a dead man when they got to him that day, he wasn't going to say much but that he needed to get a lawyer ASAP.
Now today is Feb. 25th, my brother just found out about 3 weeks ago, why he is still in so much pain, they took out a big piece of his large intestine while he was in surgery, the new doctor said that he would most likely live with that pain for the rest of his life. My brother was told that he needed to file something called administrative remedies and a federal torque, I don't know what these things are, last time I spoke to him, he was trying to file them.
Every lawyer that I have called and he has called has told us that they don't mess with federal? What does this mean? Does that mean since he was botched up in a federal prison by a doctor that he cannot get any justice for this? Or does it mean that we need to find a different type of lawyer?
The warden at the prison has stopped all Liver Biopsy's from taking place there, she told my brother that herself, she also told him that she could not blame him for anything that he may do, as far as legal action goes. Now today, the doctors and the warden are telling him that he is wasting his time filing papers or trying to get a lawsuit going because the doctor has resigned and has disappeared and that they do not have the records of his liver biopsy, they have been lost. And, yes these are the people that were encouraging him in the first place to file a lawsuit against the doctor. If there is a lawyer out there that can give us advice or would like to take this case we would be extremely grateful.
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