Twin Cities woman sues Allina Health after wrong organ is removed during surgery

A surgery intended to remove a Twin Cities woman’s infected spleen ended with her healthy kidney being removed instead, according to a medical malpractice lawsuit filed in Hennepin County District Court last week.

Wendy Rappaport of Plymouth was admitted to Abbott Northwestern Hospital on March 24, 2022, over concerns an abscess on her spleen had ruptured. Four days later, she met with Dr. Devon Callahan, who recommended the spleen be removed.

After Callahan performed the surgery, a CT scan was taken of Rappaport’s abdomen. Her left kidney was gone while infected spleen tissue remained.

She would remain hospitalized for two months, be diagnosed with kidney disease and undergo dialysis treatment.

Rappaport is seeking damages against Callahan, Allina Health and Allina Health Surgical Specialists claiming medical malpractice and medical battery.

Allina Health said in a statement it’s aware of the lawsuit and medical experts are reviewing it.

“While we will not discuss details of a patient’s care due to privacy laws, the court filings don’t accurately reflect the full picture of the patient’s condition or the life-saving medical care provided,” the statement reads. “We intend to vigorously defend, in court, the care that was provided.”

An affidavit attached to the lawsuit was filed by Dr. Isaac Samuel, a professor of surgery at the University of Iowa. In looking through Rappaport’s medical records, Samuel details the growing concern over Rappaport’s spleen and the postoperative realization that her kidney had been removed.

Rappaport first arrived at Ridgeview Hospital in Waconia. A suspected rupture of an abscess on her spleen had given her fever, chills, nausea and vomiting. She was ultimately transferred to Abbott Northwestern where Dr. John Miller, an acute care surgeon, examined her.

Miller noted that the abscess on Rappaport’s spleen was near her colon and there could be a “significant” amount of scar tissue involving both organs. The splenectomy was scheduled for March 28 and performed by Callahan.

After the surgery, Callahan wrote in his postoperative notes that there was a great deal of scar tissue and “old, coagulated blood” that obscured the view of the colon and spleen. But the tail of the pancreas, which connects to the spleen, was visible and an “intact spleen” was removed along with the abscess.

A CT scan was taken of Rappaport’s abdomen and that scan was signed by Dr. Stephen Hite, who noted that “a left nephrectomy” was performed — indicating kidney removal. The lawsuit says there had been no discussion of removing Rappaport’s kidney. Three days before the surgery, medical records noted her kidneys were “unremarkable” with no suspicious masses or stones.

One day after the surgery, Callahan met with Rappaport and her daughters and explained that the “kidney removal was unintentional.” Callahan apologized for the mistake as the family began asking questions. Callahan explained the “usual course of recovery following the removal of a kidney, including the long-term effects of kidney removal.”

Rappaport’s kidney function weakened. Her creatinine level — which tracks waste product filtered by kidneys — was marked at a healthy 0.88 the day before her surgery. Six weeks later, it was 3.29, around three-times higher than the typical range for adult women.

While dealing with her kidney disease, Rappaport’s health continued to fail related to abscesses in her upper abdomen.

She was discharged from Abbott Northwestern on May 25, 2022.

Samuel notes in his affidavit that, in his professional opinion, this was a medical failure. The removal of the kidney during a splenectomy “does not occur in the absence of negligence” and the area of the surgery documented in Callahan’s postoperative notes indicate he should have known he wasn’t removing the spleen.

If the “applicable standard of medical care” had been given to Rappaport during surgery, Samuel writes, Rappaport’s “left kidney would not have been removed.”

He refers to the failure as a medical “never event.” In 2022, there were 21 documented instances of a wrong body part being removed at Minnesota hospitals and surgery centers, according to the state Department of Health, although many of these cases were less serious.

Callahan graduated from Columbia University in New York and practiced medicine in Minnesota from 2016-2023, when his medical license expired. He is now a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.

Jeremy Olson of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.