Start your day with the news you need from the Bay Area and beyond.

Sign up for our new Morning Report weekday newsletter.

SANTA CRUZ – Santa Cruz brain surgeon and accused child molester James Kohut and his former employers are being sued by a patient claiming Kohut implanted the wrong screws in his neck, according to court documents.

The suit, filed this month in Santa Cruz County Superior Court, also lists defendants Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group and Dominican Hospital.

Wendell Driver, the plaintiff, had spinal surgery in Santa Cruz on Oct. 24, 2016. The suit asserts Kohut putting the wrong size hardware in Driver’s spine, attorney Stewart Tabak of Stockton wrote in a complaint.

The implants are generating considerable pain, irritability, disability and distress, Tabak wrote.

Driver said Friday he cannot discuss the case and deferred questions to Tabak. Tabak was not immediately available.

The suit seeks damages of more than $25,000 for wage loss, hospital and medical expenses, loss of earning capacity and “loss of support, love, companionship, comfort, affection” and household services, Tabak wrote.

Kohut must file a written response 30 days after receiving the summons, which was filed Jan. 3.

Kohut’s medical license is current but set to expire in May, according to the Medical Board of California. A Superior Court order in June 2017 prevents Kohut from practicing medicine during the criminal proceedings.

The suit also names Kohut’s corporation, Kohut Medical, as a defendant. Kohut is CEO and Karen Kohut, his estranged wife, is a director and secretary of the active corporation registered at the California Secretary of State. The couple separated in June 2017.

Like our Facebook page for more conversation and news coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.

A case conference is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. May 4 in Superior Court.

PAST PROBATION

It is not the first time Kohut, who has been licensed to practice medicine in California since 1998, was accused of medical misconduct.

In August 2005, the California Medical Board charged Kohut for operating on the wrong side of a patient’s body, incorrectly documenting the location of another procedure in the medical record and viewing and downloading pornography while working at the University of California Medical Center, Medical Board Executive Director Kimberly Kirchmeyer wrote in a May 2017 request for a court order prohibiting Kohut from medical practice. The Medical Board sought disciplinary action in 2005 after Kohut tried to remove an aneurysm from the right side — in this case, the wrong side — of a patient’s brain in 2002, according to the complaint by former Medical Board Executive Director David Thornton. Kohut had to correct the procedure by a second surgery the next day, Thornton wrote.

The errors were “repeated acts of negligence,” Thornton wrote.

The Medical Board ordered Kohut to attend clinical training at UC San Diego School of Medicine and undergo a complete psychiatric evaluation in 2006. He was placed on probation from 2006 to 2009; each year, he owed about $3,170 for probation-monitoring fees.

CRIMINAL CHARGES

Related Articles Attorney for Santa Cruz neurosurgeon accused of leading child sex ring seeks gag order

Santa Cruz brain surgeon faces $15 million bail amid new charges in child rape case

New evidence: Santa Cruz brain surgeon, nurse, mom to face more charges in child-sex ring Kohut was arrested in May 2017 after he was accused of raping children at a Santa Cruz resort, a Scotts Valley motel and other locations. Kohut initially faced 11 charges, which increased to 48 felonies after police gained evidence filmed in Watsonville from Jan. 1 to May 9, 2017, according to court documents.

Accused 30-year-old conspirator Emily Stephens, of Tucson, Arizona, is charged with 45 felonies. Rashel Brandon, 43, faces 44 felonies.

The cases were consolidated. Each defendant’s bail is $15 million. All defendants remained at Santa Cruz County Jail on Friday. A preliminary hearing is set for 9 a.m. March 12 in Superior Court.