Doctor Removes Woman’s Kidney Instead of Her Spleen: Lawsuit Claims

A woman has filed a lawsuit alleging that her surgeon removed a kidney instead of her spleen, leaving her on regular dialysis for advanced kidney disease.

Wendy Rappaport was scheduled for spleen removal surgery at Minneapolis’ Abbott Northwestern Hospital, which is operated by the Allina Health System, on March 28, 2022, according to the lawsuit documents obtained by PEOPLE which noted she had a “spleen abscess or rupture.”

However, the lawsuit alleges that instead of removing her spleen, Dr. Devon Callahan removed Rappaport’s healthy left kidney.

A post-operative CT scan showed that Rappaport’s “left kidney was removed instead of her spleen, and that remaining spleen tissue was still present along with infection,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that in his “post operative note, Defendant Callahan documents that he removed an intact spleen during the surgery.”  

Allina Health tells PEOPLE in an emailed statement: “Allina Health is aware of the lawsuit and has had the case reviewed by medical experts. While we will not discuss details of a patient’s care due to privacy laws, the court filings don’t accurately reflect the full picture of the patient’s condition, or the life-saving medical care provided. We intend to vigorously defend, in court, the care that was provided.” 

Rappaport’s attorney Aaron Lawrence tells PEOPLE “the wrong organ was removed,” sharing in an emailed statement, “Where were the checks and balances here? We hope that Allina takes responsibility for what was completely unnecessary and totally avoidable. This should have never happened.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Dr. Callahan, who now works at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, for comment.

Rappaport, who is in her 80s, remained hospitalized for two months following the surgery, the lawsuit alleges, saying she was diagnosed with “splenic abscess, left nephrectomy (left kidney removal), respiratory failure, left pleural effusion, and diastolic heart failure.“ 

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She is now living with ”stage 5 kidney disease as a direct result of the removal of her left kidney,” the lawsuit alleges, and needs regular dialysis.  

Callahan “caused permanent, irreversible personal injury … an acute kidney injury and permanently impairing her renal function,” the lawsuit alleges.