It was 1994, I was sent to Dr. Scott Cutler for an evaluation for cervical and lumbar surgery. Cervical was for a herniated disk and a bone spur to be removed. That was done in April and went pretty well, but in August was the lumbar surgery. The word from Dr. Cutler ... was this is an easy textbook case to repair the lumbar spine. Instead, it was a septic surgery where Cutler and his surgical partner Goldberger did a procedure - should have been easy, but they put on the report that they ended it early due to blood loss. According to records, only minimal blood loss. Then after the surgery, neither Cutler nor Goldberger came to visit me in the hospital room post-surgery. After 4 days of complaining about burning and itching and my wife reporting to the nurses, little blisters, with circles around them, surrounding the surgical spot - not the hospital nor the doctors did anything or showed up. On the fifth day they changed bandages and realized I was infected. They said it was nothing - over the next 4 months I had 18 procedures in surgery, Vancomycin through IV catheter as an antibiotic, and it wasn't until after January, that they finished all the surgeries.
These two surgeons left me crippled with osteomyelitis as result of non-treatment of surgical infection. In addition, they lied and said I had a minor case of diskitis, and at the end, I was told the truth and they sent me to a nursing home to die. One week later, I was at home, infected and in need of more surgery. This time they took my ribs, scraped infection from my spine, and put in hardware to hold me together. But, Goldberger and Cutler together put in hardware crooked, so I could never do physical therapy.
It's some 23 years later, I am a cripple and lost my career back in 1994 - and suing them was a loss, because infections are commonplace in Florida where they practice. Cutler told me - that this only happens to 5% of the cases, in truth 11% of people who have surgeries come out of surgery infected in the US.
After surgery, while still in the hospital the surgeons had an orthotic company fit wme with a hard plastic brace without padding to support the 26" incision they made (they said it would be 4"). When the brace was fitted, the incision attenuated causing a incisional hernia the size of a cantaloupe, and causing my body to tilt to one side. Walking more than a short distance became impossible. Physical therapy also impossible. After the hardware was removed in another hospital I was better for a short time - but I am unable to walk 100 feet without collapsing, two vertebrae have since collapsed and I am consider a total cripple by the government in the US, and Mexico where I now life. And, Mexico has evaluated my condition, their doctors have cut out the remaining infection left by Goldberger and Cutler, and others and Mexican surgeons and doctors have saved my life in the end, when I was around 60 years old. Now I am 71 and crippled.
But, I lost my career as a medical researcher and medical hypnotherapist and psychologist helping people suffering in life, and about $1.1 million in income from my career field. I lost 16 years of work and the future of my life. Thank you Scott and Richard for ruining my life. I wish you the same - you were both sloppy and uncaring surgeons in my personal experience.