Man sues hospital and doctor after they allegedly forgot to remove his appendix during his appendectomy

43-year-old William McCormack of Bronxville, New York needed an appendectomy at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, New York when he started to havestomach pains while visiting Lake Placid. During surgery it was discovered that his appendix was still inside him. Why is that strange? Because, as The Journal News reports, Mr. McCormack had had an appendectomy in 2013. It would appear that his first time getting the procedure, his doctor had forgotten to actually remove his appendix.

 Now, Mr. McCormack is suing Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, and its former director of surgery,Dr. Michael Kerin. WCBS 880 spoke with McCormack’s attorney, Mitchell Baker. Mr. Baker told the news station, “We have an operative report from Lawrence Hospital saying that the appendix was removed. Most importantly, we have the pathology report from Lawrence Hospital after the first operation which says what was presented to the pathology department was not the appendix.” The Journal News notes that Dr. Kerin electronically signed the operative report.

WCBS 880 found out what actually was removed from McCormack back in 2013. Baker told the station, “[The pathology report] said it was a three centimeter yellowish mass. No one from Lawrence Hospital, nor the doctor or anyone from his office called Mr. McCormack to advise him that apparently something had run amiss in the operation and that the appendix was not removed.”

Lawrence Hospital, meanwhile, told The Journal News that they would not comment on pending litigation. Dr. Kerin, who now runs Michael Kerin MD, General Surgery & Med Spa in Tuckahoe, did not respond to calls seeking comment.