Surgery Patient Suffers Third-Degree Burns after Oxygen Catches Fire, Lawsuit Says
A New Jersey woman has filed a lawsuit against a surgical center over claims that she suffered severe third-degree burns after her oxygen supply during her surgery caught on fire.
The 79-year-old woman filed her lawsuit in late January in the Superior Court of Essex County. Her allegations paint a vivid picture of a surgery gone wrong after coming in for what should have been a routine operation. The elderly woman’s claims stem from a procedure she underwent in the New York Bariatric Group’s outpatient facility, SurgiCenter, roughly two years ago on March 15th, 2021, in Glen Ridge.
The woman who is described as ”elderly” In the lawsuit, suffered from fatty tumors around her neck and shoulder area. She had scheduled an appointment at the facility to have the tumors removed. During her surgery, the elderly woman was hooked up to oxygen tubes that were attached to her nostrils. As the doctor and nurses were cauterizing the incision on her body, the device they were using sparked, causing a “flash flame” that subsequently ignited the oxygen she was hooked up to. As a result, the drapes that were on the elderly woman caught fire, causing her to suffer significant burns on her face and neck.
Roughly two years after the incident, the elderly woman is now suing the Bariatric Group, the outpatient facility Glen Ridge SurgiCenter, a doctor, and several nurses and assistants that were present during the incident. The medical professionals including the doctor who are listed as defendants have not been publicly named.
A spokeswoman for the New York Bariatric Group, Megan DiGregorio, shares that while the company does not comment on pending litigation, they have “never owned nor operated the Glen Ridge Surgi-Center despite the complaint’s statement to the contrary.” However, the New York Bariatric Group’s website does show that the company operates several facilities throughout New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York including the facility in Glen Ridge.
As part of her complaint, the elderly woman and her legal team argue that the facility along with the medical staff “failed to properly maintain and handle the cauterizing device.” Additionally, the lawsuit accuses the defendants of failing to administer inappropriate amounts of oxygen which contributed to the incident.
The lawsuit goes on to explain, “The Defendants carelessly and incorrectly utilized the cauterizing device so that it caught fire; carelessly utilized the oxygen so that it caught fire; and carelessly permitted flammable materials to be near the cauterizing device.”
According to reporting by local outlets, the Glen Ridge SurgiCenter no longer has an active state license in New Jersey as it expired on June 30, 2022. During the time of the incident, the facility was registered and licensed as a one-room surgical practice.
