A popular Nelson Mandela Bay surgeon is facing a multimillion-rand lawsuit for an operation he performed six years ago on a woman who claims she has been left with major scars, damage to her stomach and various physical impediments. The Herald reports that Sherillee Morris, is suing specialist surgeon Dr Nico van Niekerk, based at Netcare Greenacres Hospital, for what she says are years of suffering after having to undergo surgery to fix what was meant to be one operation to repair a recurrent hiatus hernia.
Morris is claiming R4,401,713.84 in damages. She accuses van Niekerk of medical negligence, which he denies.
The Herald reports that van Niekerk, in court papers, said he rendered services of a standard reasonably expected of a doctor in his position. He has challenged Morris to prove her claims.
In court documents, Morris claims that van Niekerk “lost his way” while performing the operation. As a result, she claims, she suffered sudden and severe bleeding which had to be corrected by emergency open chest surgery. Morris alleges that van Niekerk was negligent in that he failed to refer her to a gastroenterologist to rule out any other underlying precipitating factors and did not conduct further investigations before deciding to do the surgery.
The Herald reports that Morris, who is represented by attorney, Lunen Meyer, said van Niekerk failed to appreciate the complex nature of the initial surgery and did not take any or adequate steps to prevent complications during the surgery. There was also no assistance of an additional specialist surgeon during the initial surgery and no-one suitably qualified or experienced to operate the video camera used during the procedure, it states in the court papers.
It is alleged that van Niekerk only enlisted a general practitioner who had to perform two tasks simultaneously, namely surgical assistance and operating the camera.
It is alleged that during her second surgery, van Niekerk used the incorrect technique which caused a tear in Morris’s stomach.
The Herald reports that in his plea submitted to the court, van Niekerk denied acting negligently, saying he had rendered specialist surgical services of a standard reasonably expected from a doctor in his position. Van Niekerk also requested proof for a list of allegations levelled against him by Morris, including that his actions were negligent and that he did not perform the surgeries at an acceptable level.
The report says qualified as a general surgeon, van Niekerk has special interests in laparoscopic surgery which is a relatively low-risk and minimally invasive procedure.
Reports from a variety of specialists have also been submitted to the court as evidence of Morris’s claim which led to her being medically boarded in July 2019.
[link url="https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2021-03-15-top-nelson-mandela-bay-surgeon-in-r45m-medical-negligence-lawsuit/"]Full report in The Herald (Restricted access)[/link]