SoCal surgery went wildly wrong, leading to amputation, lawsuit says

For three days, a former trauma room nurse pleaded for a test to discover the root cause of the “excruciating” and prolonged pain suffered by her husband, a UCI Medical Center patient.

Doctors, surgeons and other medical personnel, however, wouldn’t listen, she alleges. They ignored her requests for a CT scan or ultrasound, she says, offered escalating but ultimately ineffective pain medication, and lied about her husband’s condition.

After three days, medical staff finally acted, she says, but it was too late for the patient. The man who entered UCI’s hospital in Orange for outpatient knee surgery ultimately had the lower half of his leg amputated.

The events are part of a lawsuit filed by Lisa Wolff, a nurse practitioner who formerly worked in the ER, and her husband, Wayne, against UC regents, who administer the hospital.

The Riverside County couple is suing for abuse and neglect, negligence, loss of consortium, and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The Wolffs are seeking general damages, special damages, attorney fees, loss of earnings, medical expenses and interest. The case is due back in court in July.

“We look forward to adjudicating this matter in a public forum,” said Jeoffrey Robinson, attorney for the Wolffs, in a phone call with The Times. “This scenario should never happen to anyone ever again.”

A UCI Medical Center representative said the facility had no comment.

Wayne Wolff was diagnosed with a left medial meniscus tear and mild knee arthritis by Dr. Dean Wang, a UCI Medical Center orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine, in November 2023, according to the lawsuit.

Wolff, accompanied by his wife, went in for surgery on April 3, 2024, at the hospital. Wang was the surgeon.

During the 2½-hour surgery, Wang is alleged to have cut a blood vessel, according to the lawsuit.

The surgeon needed 35 minutes of tourniquet time to stop the bleeding while about one liter of blood was lost, the suit states. There is roughly five liters of blood in the human body.

Wang told Lisa Wolff that he “nicked a vein” during surgery and that Wolff lost 200 to 250 milliliters of blood, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit contends Wang cauterized the wound.

The Wolffs allege that Wang actually cut the popliteal artery, which is the main supplier of blood to the knee and lower leg.

The Wolffs say Wang should have easily known by the pulsating blood that an artery, and not a vein, had been hit.

Wolff, a 57-year-old electrician at the time of the surgery, said he suffered unrelenting pain over the next three days.

Medical personnel offered a variety of drugs to treat the pain — fentanyl, 10- to 15-milligram doses of oxycodone, dilaudid and ketamine — all with little effect, according to the lawsuit.

The first evening, Lisa Wolff asked other doctors and nurses for a CT scan or ultrasound to determine why her husband was suffering a level of pain not consistent with knee surgery. A doctor and nurse expressed concern that night about not being able to find a pulse in Wolff’s foot, the lawsuit states.

Wang followed up the next morning and also could not find a pulse. Wolff informed him that he had begun losing feeling in the bottom of his foot and was unable to move his foot or toes.

“In the face of medically significant symptomology, Dean Wang, MD, withheld medical care that would have revealed an imminent danger” for Wolff, such as reduced blood flow, the lawsuit stated.

At the conclusion of the visit, Wang informed the Wolffs he would be gone for two days at a conference.

In his absence, Lisa Wolff continued to ask multiple times for an ultrasound, according to the lawsuit.

Eventually, on April 5, Dr. Abhinav Sharma ordered an ultrasound at 12:42 p.m. The test was canceled, however, at 1:10 p.m. by Wang, the suit says.

Later that evening, a charge nurse threatened to call security on Lisa Wolff if she didn’t leave her husband’s side, the couple said in their suit. The weary wife eventually went home.

Wang returned April 6 and opted for surgery to examine Wolff’s left leg. Fearing that parts of the leg were dead, the suit says, Wang also ordered an emergency angiogram. Initially, the doctor informed Lisa Wolff that her husband had developed a blood clot in his popliteal artery and amputation might be necessary, according to the lawsuit.

Vascular surgeon Samuel Chen then performed the angiogram, and blood flow was restored to the leg.

Chen, however, told Lisa Wolff that her husband’s lower leg was ischemic and had received no blood due to Wang’s cauterization of the popliteal artery.

Three days later, Wang performed surgery on the leg, trying to see if there were any signs of recovery with restored blood flow. The opposite occurred, though, with necrosis setting in.

Lisa Wolff asked Wang why he canceled the ultrasound authorized by Sharma and why he never ordered tests to determine why there was a lack of pulse.

According to the lawsuit, Wang answered both questions with the same phrase: “I don’t know.”

On April 14, surgeons removed the lower half of Wolff’s leg.