A former patient is suing the University, The GW Hospital and the Medical Faculty Associates for medical negligence after he allegedly lost complete vision in his left eye during treatment last year.
In an eight-page lawsuit filed in the D.C. Superior Court Friday, former patient Michael Bell and his wife Dana Bell allege doctors at the hospital misdiagnosed and failed to properly treat an “orbital mass” that caused his left eye to go blind. The lawsuit states the Bells are suing for $5 million for medical negligence and $1 million for the couple’s separation caused by the hospital’s treatment and resultant injuries.
“Plaintiff Micahel J. Bell has sustained painful, severe and permanent injures, both physical and emotional, including the total loss of vision in his left eye,” the complaint states. “He has incurred and will in the future incur substantial monetary expense for his medical and hospital care and treatment, and related expenses.”
University spokesperson Crystal Nosal, GW Hospital spokesperson Susan Griffiths and MFA spokesperson Anne Banner did not immediately return requests for comment.
The lawsuit states doctors at the GW Hospital admitted Bell for treatment last February with “a severely swollen and painful left eye” a day after he underwent a CT scan that revealed potential cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection. Bell was taken to the emergency department and received an ophthalmology consult that night, where Sunil Bellur identified inflammation around his left eye that he decided to treat as cellulitis instead of as an orbital mass, despite noting lost vision and nerve displacement, according to the complaint.
Once Bell’s vision deteriorated to be “much darker” by the following night, doctors noticed a blockage of blood in the left retina and ushered him into urgent surgery, according to the complaint. The lawsuit states the surgery, which was performed by Craig Geist, failed to save Bell from losing his vision in his left eye, which had been permanently damaged by the blood blockage.
The couple allege they separated because of the effects of the defendants’ medical negligence in treating Bell, who has lost income and “has suffered inconvenience, humiliation, disability, disfigurement and a loss of the enjoyment of life.” The lawsuit states Dana Bell has also suffered via the couple’s split.
“Plaintiff Dana M. Bell has suffered a loss of consortium from her husband, including, but not limited to, loss of material services, love affection, companionship and society, and has been otherwise injured and damaged,” the complaint states.
The Bells could not be reached for comment, and their lawyer, John Sellinger, declined to comment on the case, deferring to the details provided in the complaint.
