Goodman woman sues Army surgeon w/ copy of Lieselotte Dobbs v. United States of America

By Jeff Lehr

jlehr@joplinglobe.com

A Joplin attorney has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Goodman woman in federal court in Springfield, alleging medical malpractice on the part of a surgeon with the hospital at Fort Leonard Wood.

Attorney Roger Johnson filed the suit against the federal government, as the employer of Dr. Brian Schultz, on behalf of Lieselotte Dobbs, the 64-year-old wife of Army member David Dobbs. The suit seeks $649,017 in compensation for damages.

The lawsuit alleges that on Sept. 29, 2005, Lieselotte Dobbs underwent elective surgery to have her gallbladder removed, and that Schultz failed to realize that he injured her right hepatic duct in performing the procedure, causing the contents of the duct to leak into her peritoneum.

The lawsuit states that Dobbs was discharged from the hospital the next day, but she had to be readmitted Oct. 1 of the same year because of her deteriorating condition caused by the injured hepatic duct. Three more days passed before Schultz realized he had injured the duct during surgery, and that Dobbs was suffering from peritonitis and becoming septic, the suit states.

The lawsuit claims that Schultz was negligent both during and after surgery, and that his negligence caused the plaintiff to incur additional medical bills, loss of wages and other incidental damages. Dobbs also is claiming pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, severe emotional distress, disfigurement and permanency of injury.

The lawsuit states that the stress and weakness of her medical condition after the surgery contributed to a heart attack she later suffered.