Charleston, South Carolina – A Myrtle Beach woman has been awarded $500,000 by the state Insurance Reserve Fund due to injuries she claims were caused by multiple treatments at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). The payout comes as a resolution to allegations of medical malpractice and negligence on the part of MUSC staff during her surgery and subsequent treatments in 2019.
The issues started when the woman had surgery at MUSC in early June 2019 that included removing her ovaries and hysterectomy. The lawsuit says that during the first surgery, the surgeon accidentally punctured her stomach and sewed the sutures in the wrong way, which caused serious problems. Just few days after she was discharged from hospital, the issues she faced forced her to get back to hospital for additional treatment.
One of the most distressing allegations in the lawsuit includes permanent damage to her right leg and back nerves. This happened because a drainage tube wasn’t put in properly and was left inside the patient for an extended period. Even though the patient repeatedly told nurses and other medical staff that they were in pain, the lawsuit says that the right steps were not taken in time to stop these long-term injuries.
In their lawsuit against MUSC, the patient and her husband said that the medical staff did not follow a proper plan of care. They also said that the staff didn’t react properly to changes in the patient’s state, which is considered a medical malpractice and negligence.
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As MUSC is associated with the state, the settlement amount of $500,000 was paid out in the first quarter of 2024 by the state Insurance Reserve Fund.