CBS News – Glenn Hermes of Arlington, Texas is seeking more than $1 million in damages after he says surgeons mistakenly removed his healthy kidney instead of his cancerous one.
Hermes told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that a pathology report was misread, causing the error. A portion of his remaining kidney has been removed because of the cancer, further limiting his kidney function.
The 55-year-old Hermes filed a lawsuit this week against his urologist and a radiologist for malpractice and gross negligence.
Messages left at the doctors’ offices were not immediately returned.
Hermes is waiting to see if he will need dialysis, a transplant or expensive drugs to maintain his health.
“I’m getting to the point where I should be enjoying life and thinking about retirement and not thinking about a transplant. It’s pretty emotional,” Hermes said.
But he must be cancer-free for five years before he’s eligible for a transplant, and there’s no guarantee the operation would be successful.
His wife, Bernadette, said she worries he might get an infection or otherwise get sick.
“I’m trying to be uplifting and positive,” she said. “But I know that at any time his kidney could stop working.”
