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Patient Sues Doctor For Malpractice

February 1, 2006

Rhoda Fruchter was injured after she underwent neck surgery by Boca Raton neurosurgeon Douglas F. Martin at Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach.

In a lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, Fruchter, 65, claims Martin 'bored holes into the wrong vertebrae,' screwed distraction pins in the wrong place, discovered his mistake, took them out and put them in the correct vertebrae.

Fruchter alleges that Martin never told her of the error, which caused a raging infection and the need for additional surgeries that have left her severely debilitated, the lawsuit claims.

The surgery took place July 7th, 2003 and Fruchter discovered the mistake on September 9th, 2003.

Fruchter had to have other surgery because of the error. She alleges to now has metal plates and screws in her back and had to graft bone from her hip to use in her front vertebrae.

The other surgery involved grafting bone from Fruchter's lower back which was then fused to her entire back.

Martin counters that Fruchter is lying and that there never was an infection. He claims she returned to work without his blessing and that she is to blame for any complications.

'Infection is an accepted complication of surgery, but she didn't have an infection,' said the 56-year-old Martin.

It's not unusual for neurosurgeons and other high-risk doctors to become the target of litigation because of the nature of their practice. And often insurance companies would rather settle than take their chances before a jury, even if the doctor may not be negligent. Martin claims he is the victim of a litigious society.

Court records show Martin has been sued for malpractice at least 16 times since 1984. Some of the cases have been dismissed, others settled, and some are pending.

In 1997, Martin appeared on a state insurance department list of the top 10 doctors who paid out three or more malpractice claims in a five-year period. His settlements total $560,000.

Martin defends his record, saying there isn't one neurosurgeon he knows of who hasn't been sued.

George Gramesty, a Boynton Beach widower who alleged that he was left without the use of his left arm after Martin performed unnecessary surgery at Delray Medical Center to remove a benign tumor from under his armpit.

Gramesty settled the case, but a confidentiality agreement prohibits Levine from saying how much her client received.

The lawsuit alleged that instead of performing the surgery, Martin should have removed a section of the tumor, closed him up, sent it to a pathologist and waited for the report. Despite the many malpractice cases against Martin, he's never been disciplined by the Florida Board of Medicine.

To make matters worse for Fruchter, Gramesty and others who have sued, the doctor doesn't carry malpractice insurance and filed for bankruptcy in 2000.

A judge refused to discharge Martin from his debts, and he still owes in excess of $1 million, said Deborah Menotte, the bankruptcy trustee in his case.

Florida allows doctors to practice without malpractice insurance if they post a bond, establish an escrow account, or obtain an irrevocable letter of credit to cover malpractice verdicts.

The state exempts doctors from even those requirements if they meet certain conditions, including: maintained an active license for more than 15 years, made no more than two malpractice payments exceeding $25,000 in the past five years and spent no more than 1,000 hours per year in direct patient contact.

Perhaps one of the most celebrated malpractice lawsuits against Martin came in 1991. Shortly after one of his patients, William Lenahan of Port St. Lucie, won a $2.25 million judgment against him, Martin went on the offensive. He spent $42,000 on private investigators to put a tail on the patient. The investigator caught Lenahan climbing stairs with three suitcases in his arms, jogging and working on a yacht he purchased with the proceeds of his lawsuit winnings.

In 1994, a Palm Beach County judge ordered Lenahan to repay Martin nearly $1.7 million, ruling that the doctor had been the victim of a scam. The Lenahans subsequently were convicted of criminal fraud and sentenced to seven years in jail.

Cheryl Peters, another alleged victim of Martin, has also sued Martin in the past. Peters claims in her lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial next month, that Martin performed a cervical fusion and discectomy on her that not only were unnecessary, but that also left her in more pain than she felt prior to the operations.

Howard Gordon of Boca Raton also claims to be a victim of Martin's malpractice. He accuses Martin in a pending 2003 lawsuit of performing unnecessary neck surgery on him following a car accident. Gordon developed numerous complications, which resulted in his being hospitalized for a month on life-support, said his attorney, Harlan Wald.