Woman files suit against Columbus surgeon

COLUMBUS - A 37-year-old Osmond woman has accused a Columbus surgeon of negligence for injuries she suffered following shoulder surgery in a lawsuit filed in Platte County District Court in mid-July.

Amy E. Wattier filed the lawsuit July 20 against Dr. Thomas Connolly, Columbus Community Hospital Inc. and Columbus Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic, P.C. seeking more than $47,000 in economic damages since the Nov. 23, 2004, surgical procedure.

Connolly recently left Columbus for a series of new responsibilities in Omaha, which is his hometown.

The lawsuit also seeks unspecified damages for future medical expenses and lost wages, physical pain and mental suffering, inconvenience, loss of society and companionship and humiliation.

Wattier's lawsuit claims that because of negligence by Connolly, the hospital and medical clinic, she has suffered injuries to the cartilage in and around the surgically repaired shoulder.

The suit charges the injuries and damage, “some of which are permanent,” have restricted Wattier's range of motion and resulted in injury to her right bicep tendon “in the form of a ruptured tendon.”

Norfolk attorney David Copple is representing the Osmond woman in the court action. Copple could not be reached Monday and Tuesday in telephone messages seeking comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit charges that as a result of the defendants' negligence, Wattier has experienced “sustained severe, excruciating pain, mental and physical anguish, discomfort and disability, permanent in nature.” The suit claims Wattier is “unable to engage in certain tasks required of her employment since the date of the negligence” and has “sustained potential permanent loss of earning capacity and will incur future pain, discomfort, disability and medical treatment.”

The economic damages incurred by Wattier since the 2004 surgery, according to the lawsuit, have included: Heartland Physical Therapy, $10,393; Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital, $8,219; Ortho West Orthopedic & Sports Medicine, $3,329; Columbus Community Hospital, $11,657; Orthopedic Anesthesia Spec., $1,300; Alegent Health Clinic, $1,796; Columbus Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic, $7,140; mileage, $1,273; lost wages, $3,416; and miscellaneous expenses, $65.