Man Sues Hospital, Says It Lost a Piece of His Skull

When Fernando Cluster was taken to Atlanta's Emory Hospital in September 2022 with a brain bleed, a portion of his skull about the size of a saucer was removed to relieve pressure—and when the time came to replace the bone, Cluster says the Georgia hospital couldn't find it. Cluster and his wife are now suing Emory, alleging that in addition to the emotional pain and suffering caused by the incident, he was charged nearly $150,000 for medical expenses directly related to the hospital's error—including $19,000 for the synthetic skull implant that was used when his own bone was lost, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Cluster says he returned to the hospital six weeks after the brain bleed, but instead of going in for surgery to have the 4.7-inch-by-5.9-inch portion of his skull reimplanted as planned, doctors told him the surgery would need to be delayed because his bone flap could not be located, and a synthetic implant would instead need to be made, CNN reports. He later suffered an infection in the synthetic flap, which required another surgery he was charged for, per his lawsuit. The couple says Cluster has "permanent injuries" as a result of the mistake, and has not been able to return to work. The hospital says it does not comment on pending litigation. (More Georgia stories.)