The Kansas Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of a South Central Kansas Medical Center surgeon, Dr. Patrick T. Blatchford, according to a news release Tuesday night.
The appellate court affirmed the Cowley County District Court decision that had been appealed by the plaintiff, Aaron Nash of Oxford. The issues stem from Nash’s hernia surgery in January of 2015 with his subsequent suit filed in 2017.
The courts determined that Nash failed to file a notice of claim, which is required before suing a municipality. SCKMC is operated by the city of Ark City.
“It’s definitely a relief and especially when you find out it was a unanimous decision by all three judges,” Blatchford stated.
While acknowledging that the case was heard on procedural issues, Blatchford said, “I’d performed hundreds of these procedures. Whenever you have someone who has already had a couple of surgeries for the same problem, the likelihood of complications is greatly increased. The complications were identified and treated appropriately.”
Blatchford said he performed 100-150 hernia repairs a year for eleven years and that his recurrence rate is between two and three percent, which fits within the national average, according to the hospital.
Nash’s original complaint was for negligence relating to his surgery and its follow-up treatment. Any material issues relating to that were dismissed in the lower court’s ruling on Blatchford’s May of 2017 filing for summary judgment.
The case was heard in Chanute on Oct. 16.
“We are certainly happy with the outcome and hope this will bring this case to an end,” stated SCKMC CEO Jeff Bowman. “We have every confidence in Dr. Blatchford. His record clearly shows that he is a highly competent surgeon and we are glad to have him leading the surgical team here at SCKMC.”
Court documents on the case can be read here.
