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Weis: Doctors missed complications after surgery

BOSTON -- The lawyer for Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said Tuesday that doctors failed to recognize life-threatening complications after Weis' gastric bypass surgery, allowing him to bleed internally for more than a day.

Weis' lawyer, Michael Mone, made his comments at the start of the coach's malpractice trial.

Weis had the surgery in June 2002 while he was an assistant coach for the New England Patriots after battling obesity for years. He weighed about 350 pounds at the time.

Weis alleges in the lawsuit that Massachusetts General Hospital physicians Charles Ferguson and Richard Hodin acted negligently and left Weis so close to death that he received the Roman Catholic sacrament of last rites. He was in a coma for two weeks.

The doctors maintain they did nothing wrong.

Weis reported complications, including difficulty breathing, in the early morning a day after his surgery, Mone said in an opening statement in Suffolk Superior Court. The following day, doctors performed another surgery to fix problems caused by the initial procedure.

"For more than 30 hours, Mr. Weis continued to bleed," Mone said.

William J. Dailey Jr., an attorney for the doctors, told jurors the doctors acted appropriately and that Weis was believed to be in good condition the morning of the second procedure.

"There was no carelessness," Dailey said. "Unfortunately, Mr. Weis experienced one of the complications that is known to exist."

Ferguson performed the surgery and then left for the weekend. Hodin was charged with caring for Ferguson's patients while the doctor was gone and performed the follow-up surgery.

Weis, who is seeking unspecified damages, could testify Wednesday. He and his wife, Maura, sat in the front row during testimony Tuesday. Mone said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who visited Weis in the hospital, could also testify this week.

In a gastric bypass, an egg-sized pouch in the upper stomach is created by stapling it off from the rest of the organ and then connected to the small intestine. The most dangerous complication is leakage from any of the connections. In Weis' case, the connection between the pouch and the small intestine leaked.

Mone claimed Hodin failed to conduct a diagnostic test in which the patient swallows a solution that radiologists track to find leaks. He said that by Saturday morning, Weis was showing "classic signs" of internal bleeding.

"He should have intervened at that point," Mone said. "He chose not to operate. It was not going to correct itself."

But Dailey said a CT scan of Weis on Saturday showed no evidence of a leak. He said doctors were concerned that Weis' breathing problems may have been a pulmonary embolism, in which an artery in the lung becomes blocked. The scan also ruled that out, however.

"There was no evidence that this leak was present on Saturday at all," Dailey said.

Weis removed his own breathing tube at 9 p.m. Saturday, Dailey pointed out.

Jennifer Wilson, an intensive care nurse who was assigned to care for Weis, testified she eventually became concerned there was internal bleeding. She consulted with a different doctor Sunday to order the "barium swallow" test, which occurred at 3 p.m. that day. A leak was detected, and surgery was conducted two hours later.

"He spent days at death's door," Mone said of Weis' condition after the second surgery.

Five years later, Weis still suffers nerve damage in his legs as a result, Mone said.

Weis became interested in the surgery after learning that Al Roker, weatherman of NBC's "Today" show, had gastric bypass surgery in 2002. The American Society for Bariatric Surgery estimates more than 177,000 Americans had weight-loss surgery in 2006, up from 47,000 in 2001.

Five to 10 percent of patients suffer major complications, Dailey said, and about one in 200 dies.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press



BOSTON -- Despite the potential risks, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis decided to have gastric bypass surgery because he was afraid he would one day "drop dead" if he didn't lose weight.

AP Photo/Suzanne Kreiter, Pool
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis testified he had gastric bypass surgery because he thought he would die because of his weight.




Weis, who suffered life-threatening complications and nearly died after the June 2002 surgery, testified Wednesday in his medical malpractice case against two surgeons that he has struggled with his weight all his life.
"I've probably been on every diet known to mankind," he said in response to questions from his lawyer, Michael Mone.
Weis, whose father died of a heart attack at 56, said he worried he wouldn't be able to see his two children grow up or reach his goal of becoming a head coach.

"The foremost concern was that I was going to drop dead," Weis said when his lawyer asked about his motivation for the surgery.
Weis claims in his suit that Massachusetts General Hospital physicians Charles Ferguson and Richard Hodin acted negligently by failing to recognize life-threatening internal bleeding and infection two days after the surgery.
Defense lawyers have said the doctors cared for Weis properly and that he experienced one of the known complications of the surgery.

Weis spent more than a month in the hospital after the surgery, lost feeling in his feet, and has had mobility problems since the surgery. He still needs a golf cart to get around practice at Notre Dame, and standing for up to five hours straight during games causes him severe foot pain.
Weis, the former offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, decided to have the surgery shortly after the Patriots' February 2002 Super Bowl victory over the St. Louis Rams.

"I was watching the DVD of the Super Bowl, and I just looked at myself on the sideline and I said, 'We got a problem here,'" Weis testified on the second day of the trial in Suffolk Superior Court.
He thought his weight, about 336 pounds at the time, was thwarting his career.

"I looked at the DVD and said, 'If I were hiring, I wouldn't hire him,'" he said.
William J. Dailey Jr., a lawyer for the doctors, suggested under cross examination of Weis that the surgery was successful because it helped Weis achieve his stated goals: He lost nearly 90 pounds and landed his dream job at Notre Dame.

Dailey also asked Weis about his prior history of health problems, including sleep apnea and hemochromatosis, an iron overload in the body, and asked if he fully realized all the risks of bypass surgery. Five to 10 percent of patients suffer major complications, Dailey said, and about 1 in 200 die.
Weis said he did know about the potential complications. "Yes sir, (Dr. Ferguson) definitely told me there were other risks," he said.
Dailey also pointed out the doctors waived the normal counseling period before the operation -- at Weis' request -- so he could be healthy in time for the following football season.

Weis said he was so secretive about his decision to have the surgery that he didn't tell his wife until about two weeks before the operation. The only member of the Patriots he confided in besides the team doctor was quarterback Tom Brady.

Maura Weis testified she was upset when she found out her husband was getting the operation because of the known risks, and that when she saw him in the hospital afterward she thought he might die.
Weis said he remembered waking up in the hospital's intensive care unit after the surgery and seeing Brady and a priest at his bedside. Brady was not in court Wednesday, but may testify later.

Weis is seeking unspecified damages. The trial continues Thursday.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press