Woman claims kidney was erroneously removed in botched surgery

Jonathan Ellis | Argus Leader

An Iowa woman who says a South Dakota surgeon erroneously removed her kidney has filed suit against the surgeon and his practice.

Dena Knapp was supposed to have an adrenal gland and a mass on the gland removed during the Oct. 5, 2016 surgery, according to her lawsuit. But instead, Dr. Scott Baker of Sioux Falls removed her healthy right kidney.

Baker was informed later that day by the pathology department at Avera McKennan Hospital that he removed the kidney and failed to remove the adrenal gland. But on Oct. 7, he told Knapp that he hadn’t heard from pathology, the lawsuit says.

Baker called Knapp on Oct. 11 and told her that part of the adrenal gland was still inside her body and that he “did not get everything,” the lawsuit says. He advised her that she would have to undergo a second surgery.

Knapp did have a second surgery, but she went to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where the gland and mass were successfully removed.

Mark Hatting, the executive director for The Surgical Institute of South Dakota, where Baker is a partner and which is also named as a defendant, said Wednesday afternoon that he had not seen the complaint and could not comment.

The complaint, filed in federal court, says Knapp’s erroneous surgery resulted in an incurable and progressive kidney disease in her remaining kidney. It says she suffers from pain, fatigue, depression and mental distress.

“Further,” the lawsuit says, “since the erroneous surgery, Dena has been unable to perform many functions and has required replacement services to clean and maintain her home, the past and future cost of which is yet to be determined.”