HOUSTON – Try to imagine how you would feel if your 4-year-old son went to the hospital for laparoscopic surgery to solve a hernia problem and instead wound up getting what amounts to a partial vasectomy.
That is what a lawsuit alleges happened to a 4-year-old boy from Fort Bend County at Texas Children’s Hospital last August.
The boy’s family is now suing the doctor who performed the surgery and TCH for up to $1 million.
”So, the doctor went in laparoscopically, which means not an open incision, and doing it on a 2-D model, on television, failed to identify exactly what she was cutting and cut the wrong tube,” said Randy Sorrels, from the Sorrels Law Firm.
In the lawsuit, both Texas Children’s Hospital and Dr. Susan L. Jarosz are named as defendants.
The lawsuit claims the boy, who is now 5 years old, will “more than likely contend with fertility issues later in life” and will have to face “future medical expenses, future pain, mental anguish, future disfigurement, physical impairment and future expenses for fertility treatments.”
The lawsuit alleges Dr. Jarosz, who is also an assistant professor at Baylor College Of Medicine, “breached the standard of care by failing to exercise ordinary care while performing hernia repair surgery on the little boy”.
Attorney Randy Sorrels says the boy’s mother and father were in shock when they found out what happened.
”We have had past cases of wrongful vasectomies but never in someone so young and innocent and with so much future ahead of him,” Sorrels said.
KPRC 2 Investigates reached out to Texas Children’s Hospital for comment and TCH sent us this statement.
“Texas Children’s Hospital’s top priority is the health and well-being of our patients. Due to patient privacy requirements, we are unable to comment.”