Brain Surgery Malpractice Lawsuit Filed Over Death of 16-Year Old Girl

The parents of a 16-year old girl who died after brain surgery have filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that a neurosurgeon tried to cover up his medical malpractice by interfering with the autopsy. The surgical mistake was only discovered by the family through depositions taken in another case filed over the improper harvesting of their daughters eyes after her death.

The brain surgery malpractice lawsuit was filed earlier this month by the parents of Jessica Siegel in the Court of Common Pleas in Hamilton, Ohio, against Dr. Andrew Joel Ringer and the Mayfield Clinic & Spine Institute in Cincinnati, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

The complaint alleges that Ringer botched a surgery meant to prevent veins in Siegel’s brain from knotting; a condition that significantly increased the chances for a stroke. Following the August 14, 2006 brain surgery, Siegel died 9 days later.

After Siegel’s death, her family requested a complete autopsy. However, Ringer subsequently ordered an autopsy that excluded examination of the head, which the family alleges was fraudulently ordered in an attempt to avoid medical malpractice liability.

Ringer told the Siegel family that the autopsy did not reveal the cause of Jessica Siegel’s death, and allegedly feigned surprise that there had not been an autopsy of the head, according to the lawsuit.

During deposition testimony in the organ donation lawsuit, a nurse testified that Ringer had agreed with Siegel’s father to perform a complete autopsy, but after the father left the room, Ringer ordered the nurse to scratch out the order and indicate that the autopsy should omit an examination of the head.