Comedian Says Doctor Botched Bypass Surgery

Comedian Says Doctor Botched Bypass Surgery


By, Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Legal Affairs Writer
Published 4:00 am, Friday, May 19, 2000


2000-05-19 04:00:00 PDT San Francisco -- Comedian Dana Carvey said it was a somber day when he learned that a doctor had operated on the wrong artery during Carvey's double bypass surgery in 1998.

Carvey, who has a family history of high cholesterol, had the surgery to clear a blocked artery. Because of the surgical mishap, the blockage in the diseased artery remained. He has since made a complete recovery. But yesterday he was in court to testify in his $7.5 million lawsuit against the San Francisco surgeon who made the mistake.

After he learned of the botched surgery, he said, he was devastated. "I remember just lying in my bed just sobbing," Carvey told the jury in San Francisco Superior Court. "I can't believe they connected it to the wrong artery," he kept saying to himself.

"I was absolutely just terrified that I was going to have another open heart surgery," he said. That turned out to be unnecessary. But he did require a subsequent angioplasty to clear the blocked artery.

Last year, Carvey, a resident of Marin County, filed suit against the surgeon, Elias Hanna, to recover damages for the six months in 1998 the entertainer spent recovering from the angioplasty. During that time, he said, he had to turn down offers to do commercials, a television series and a spot on the "Hollywood Squares" game show.

In the doctor's defense, Hanna's lawyer has said that Carvey, 44, has an "unusual anatomy" and that his blood vessels were positioned in an atypical way.

While Hanna sat in the front row of the courtroom, Carvey, wearing a blue shirt and black suit, testified how he anguished over making the decision to have open heart surgery in the first place.

But after three unsuccessful angioplasties in 1997, he said that the doctors convinced him that surgery was an effective way to resolve the recurring blockage of his arteries.

"Let's bite the bullet and do this horrific thing, this open heart surgery so I can get on with my life, my career," he recalled thinking to himself.

He had the operation at Marin General Hospital in March 1998. He was "euphoric" when he went home, believing that the potentially life-threatening blockage was finally cleared.

But soon after the surgery, he began to have the same discomfort he experienced before. Hanna assured him it was the effects of the operation. But in May, Carvey was tested by his regular doctors in Los Angeles, who discovered the mistake. They called it a "goof-up" and a case of "gross negligence," Carvey said.

He was told there was a high risk of the artery closing up again. "We all knew I was back to square one again," he said quietly.

He had another angioplasty and then went through six months of recuperation. He recalled being weak and pale and dreading the prospect of having to undergo another open heart surgery if the angioplasty was unsuccessful.

For the first four months, he said, he was so sapped of strength that he could only work three days of stand- up comedy performances.

By the fall, he was beginning to regain his strength and picked up his work schedule.

During his daylong testimony, Carvey mostly maintained a serious demeanor, often taking deep breaths to relieve the tension. But occasionally he drew chuckles from the jury.

After he came out of the surgery at Marin General Hospital, he recalled how he was given morphine to relieve the postoperative pain. "They tell you it's going to run out," he said with a smile, refering to the patient-regulated morphine pump. "But I kept hitting it."

When Hanna's lawyer, Dane Jones, asked him about his accounting and business affairs, he shook his head and talked vaguely about "that stuff."

"I'm just a comedian," he told the lawyer.

A year later, Carvey said that he is on a low-fat diet as well as medication to maintain a low cholesterol level.

"Is your health otherwise good?" his lawyer, David Baum asked him.

"Perfect," Carvey responded.

The trial is expected to last through next week.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Comedian-Says-Doctor-Botched-Bypass-Surgery-2759026.php#ixzz2PS5IHYbi


Researched by:
@mannaglide
http://MannaGoods.blogspot.com


-----
Bring A Smile To Someone's Day
http://ow.ly/1z4j1b