NewsNational News

Actions

Iowa woman says surgeon wrongly removed her kidney during botched surgery

Posted at 10:31 AM, Aug 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-16 17:02:11-04

An Iowa woman is suing a South Dakota surgeon and his practice for wrongly removing one of her kidneys.

The lawsuit filed by Dena Knapp alleges that Dr. Scott Baker erroneously removed her healthy right kidney instead of removing an adrenal gland and a mass on the gland during a surgery in Sioux Falls in 2016.

Baker called the alleged victim a few days later and said he "did not get everything" and the woman would have to undergo a second surgery to fix the issue, the Argus Leader reported. 

The Argus Leader reports the lawsuit alleges the erroneous surgery resulted in an incurable and progressive kidney disease in Knapp's remaining kidney that has caused pain and mental distress.

Knapp eventually had a second surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to remove the gland and mass.

Baker did not immediately return a call for comment.

The federal lawsuit also names The Surgical Institute of South Dakota, where Baker is partner. The institute declined comment.