Texas Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Settled After Surgical Infection

When 63-year-old John Harrison traveled to Houston for a simple shoulder surgery, he believed his recovery would be nothing more than a night in the hospital and a few weeks of rest. However, a dirty surgical instrument caused an infection that turned Harrison’s life upside down and ended with a Texas medical malpractice lawsuit.
In the days after his rotator cuff surgery, Harrison began noticing signs of infection: redness and heat, pus and pain. The Mission man drove back to Houston only to discover that the fast-spreading infection had already done permanent damage to his body and bones. Harrison wasn’t the only one who suffered a long, painful, and expensive complication – seven other patients at Methodist Hospital reported life-threatening infections. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) investigated and found that multiple tools used during surgery were dirty – some contained pieces of human bone and tissue.
Since the infection and discovery, Harrison has filed Houston medical malpractice lawsuits against both the hospital and the manufacturer of one of the tainted instruments. The hospital lawsuit was settled, while the medical instrument lawsuit is in federal court. Harrison has undergone seven follow-up surgeries since the initial infection and still cannot move his shoulder normally.