Atlanta Hospital Couldn't Find Piece of Man's Skull After It Was Mixed Up with Other Patients' Bone Fragments: Lawsuit

The suit alleges negligence and cites physical and emotional damages while the patient was under the care of Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta

An Atlanta hospital is the subject of a new lawsuit accusing the facility of losing a piece of a patient's skull.

According to court documents reviewed by PEOPLE, Fernando and Maria Cluster are accusing staff at Emory University Hospital Midtown of losing a portion of Fernando's skull during a September 2022 stay at the facility to treat an intracerebral hemorrhage, otherwise known as brain bleeding.

Per the complaint, the condition prompted hospital staff to perform emergency surgery on Cluster, in which a portion of his skull was removed. Surgeons helming the procedure removed a roughly 4.7-by-5.9-in. bone flap with the intention of reattaching the piece during a follow-up surgery, which would take place within weeks of first.

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However, “When Emory’s personnel went to retrieve the bone flap," in November 2022, " ‘there were several bone flaps with incomplete or missing patient identification’ and therefore, Emory ‘could not be certain which if any of these belonged to Mr. Cluster,' " according to the complaint.

As a result of the alleged loss of Cluster's skull portion, the patient required a synthetic bone flap that he claims caused a longer, more intensive hospitalization and spurred an infection that required another surgery, per the complaint.

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The plaintiffs further allege that Cluster incurred “medical expenses in excess of $146,845.60” and that in the time since the surgical procedures, he has endured permanent injuries, been unable to work and taken a toll on his relationship with his family.

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The complaint does not specify a dollar figure that the Clusters are seeking, but does note that they are looking to receive both special and general damages.

PEOPLE reached out to Emory Health for comment on the suit, but they did not immediately respond.

According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, an intracerebral hemorrhage is "the second most common cause of stroke (15-30% of strokes) and the most deadly."

The association notes that the condition can arise when arteries or veins rupture, which can be spurred by abnormal pressure, abnormal development or trauma. The bleeding can, in turn, damage brain tissue and create extra pressure within a patient's skull that causes further damage to the brain as a whole.

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