A 73-year-old Elmhurst man has sued Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood and his two doctors for medical malpractice because, according to his lawyer, his stomach was incorrectly attached to his colon after surgeons removed a bowel obstruction.
The stomach, one of the first parts of the digestive system, is connected to the small intestine, where much of the nutrients from foods are absorbed. After that, undigested food and water are sent to the large intestine, which includes the colon.
Because of the mistake, only a small amount of the food that Mathew “Sam” Moroney ate was being digested, resulting in a 50-pound weight loss in three months and severe diarrhea, his attorney said.
“It’s shocking,” said Jeffrey M. Goldberg, a Chicago attorney representing Moroney. “If I showed you the photos of this man, he looks like a concentration camp victim.”
Moroney weighed less than 100 pounds by March 2001, about three months after his surgery at Loyola, Goldberg said. The surgery was to correct an obstruction in his bowels.
Besides the hospital, the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court names Dr. Jack Ronald Pickleman, a surgeon, and Dr. Karin Annika Blumofe as defendants.
The suit also claims that doctors at Loyola failed to identify the cause of the malnutrition during follow-up exams after the surgery.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages of at least $50,000.
Michael Pavia, spokesman for Loyola, said he did not know anything about the lawsuit Wednesday afternoon. He said it is the hospital’s policy not to comment on litigation.
In March 2001, Moroney saw different doctors in Highland Park, who noticed irregularities in X-rays and performed exploratory surgery, Goldberg said. Those doctors corrected the problem, Goldberg said.
But he said Moroney has not fully recovered. A retired carpenter, Moroney worked part time as a painter but can no longer work, Goldberg said.
Moroney also has a restricted diet because the muscles in the small intestine deteriorated, leaving him with digestive problems, his lawyer said.
