A surgeon practicing in Grenoble, recently suspended from his duties, is the subject of a preliminary investigation for “endangering others” following the accusations of at least seven patients.
The list of faults with which he is accused is long: non-compliance with operating techniques, damaging lack of quality in the operating follow-up, medical errors having led to amputations or disabilities, forgetting compresses having led to superinfection… in the face of all these complaints, Doctor V., who practiced at the Clinique des Cèdres d’Échirolles (Grenoble region) as a back surgeon, is the subject of a preliminary investigation for “endangering others”. He was recently suspended from his duties for 3 years, 18 of which were suspended, by the Order of Physicians. They are seven patients who want him to answer for his actions.
These practices were revealed in 2016, when the Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (CPAM) discovered 54 files on Doctor V., “showing that the patients were operated on without medical justification, which exposed them to an unjustified risk” , reports The Parisian. It also happens that two patients of Dr. V. have filed a complaint for medical errors. Since then, the number has risen to seven, at least.
Most of these patients are amputees or forced to move around in a wheelchair. All believe that their sequelae are directly due to the questionable practices of the surgeon, because he would not have followed the “safety checklist”. Following the testimonies of alleged victims in the daily newspaper, their lawyer, Maître Édouard Bourgin, received around forty calls from other patients of Doctor V.
Horrifying testimonies
Among them, Éric Berthon, operated in July 2017, who gives a damning testimony to the Parisian. The 50-year-old man was operated on for his cervical spine through an incision in his throat by Doctor V. ” The day after the operation, he said that the doctor assured him that “That’s good job. I’m very happy with the result!” Except that an infectious cyst developed in his throat the following days. It was like a volcano. After two weeks, the crater of this volcano released all the pus that was inside”, he says. On September 6, the doctor made him pass an ultrasound of the throat, during which a suspicious material was detected.
“He therefore decided to operate on me again urgently on September 21, 2017, continues Eric Berthon. After the operation, he came to my room and said to me very relaxed: ‘It was just a compress. I took it out. So he recognized that he had forgotten a compress in my body during his first operation in July. It was this mistake that led to the very serious infection that I suffered. Indeed, this was not without consequences: after laboratory analysis, it appears that the infection is due to staphylococcus aureus. “The surgeon gave me a treatment to make this infection disappear. But it was not the right treatment. Fortunately, an infectious disease doctor from Chambéry took care of me, because otherwise I would no longer be there for you. speak.”
Unnecessary and dangerous operations
Another patient wishes to file a complaint: Bakary Diakité. He told the newspaper living hell since his back operation: “In 2015, this surgeon put nine screws in my column. But four screws moved because the holes he had made were too big. Another screw broke. It got stuck in a nerve.” Following this medical error, this Grenoblois can no longer move because of the suffering for… 1 year! “He operated on me again to cement the screws that were moving. But he forgot to cement two of them. I’m still in pain. I stay in bed all day. After four operations, the last of which was in 2018, I move about with crutches or a walker.”
.