The family of a patient has filed a lawsuit against a Fresno heart surgeon, along with Fresno Community Regional Medical Center and the Valley Cardiac Surgery Medical Group.
The family alleges that in April 2012, Dr. Pervaiz Chaudhry walked out before completing a surgery, leaving a physician's assistant to close 72-year-old Silvino Perez.
He is now in a vegetative state that requires constant care.
The lawsuit seeks damages for medical malpractice, corporate negligence, elder abuse and loss of consortium.
Perez's stepson, Cristobal Arteaga, says that in August of 2013, an anonymous caller who was inside the operating room informed him of the alleged negligence.
"Basically, he said the doctor walked out in the middle of the operation, left the assistant to perform the work that he should've been doing," Arteaga says.
He describes his stepdad as very alert and active before the surgery. Perez has not recovered.
"He opens his eyes, he doesn't respond, he doesn't track you with his eyes if you're talking to him or calling him. There's no form of communication whatsoever," Arteaga says.
His attorney, Jeffrey Mitchell, says they've subpoenaed possible witnesses to help strengthen the case.
"The real purpose of this case, frankly, is to find out really what happened and if there was wrongdoing of the sort that we suspect and have been told about to try to redress it so it doesn't happen to other people," Mitchell says.
Attorney Monrae English says she's representing the physician assistant, Bella Albakova, who closed up Perez, and says her client confirms the allegations.
"What we've uncovered so far is what we consider massive whistleblowing," English says.
"I think the public has the right to know this. I think the people that have used him as their doctor have the right to know this," Arteaga says.
In a written statement, CRMC spokesperson Mary Lisa Russell says, "We won't comment on the lawsuits, except to say that we look forward to the legal system's proper fact-finding process and that such lawsuits shouldn't be tried through the media. Also, the public should know that based on its most recent data, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons gives Community Regional's cardiac surgery program the highest possible (3-star) ranking. Only about 15% of participating hospitals share a ranking that high. In some cases, we're able to help patients who other hospitals in the region can't.”
The doctor's attorney hasn't returned our requests for comment on the case.
Meanwhile, a consumer watchdog group has asked the California attorney general and the State Medical Board to take action against the doctor and the hospital.