| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
LOS ANGELES (AP) A woman filed a malpractice suit against Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center on Monday, claiming her bowel was punctured during a botched operation at the hospital, her attorney said.
Nancy Whitaker, of Los Angeles, is seeking damages for past and future medical treatment and loss of earnings, said her attorney, Louanne Masry Weeks, daughter of well-known lawyer Ed Masry.
Whitaker accuses the hospital of medical malpractice stemming from her surgery on Oct. 7 last year for a lumbar laminectomy to relieve back and leg pain, Weeks said.
The procedure involves making a small incision in the lower back through which a surgeon reaches the lumbar spine to relieve pressure on a nerve root.
Whitaker worked as a nurse, but not with the hospital, Weeks said.