Cy-Fair physician sued over surgeon’s kidney failure

A surgeon is suing Memorial Herman Hospital, and others, over claims the care he received as a patient caused his kidneys to fail.

Subramaniam Ramanathan, M.D., filed a lawsuit on Sept. 26 in the Harris County District Court against Memorial Hermann Hospital; Daniel Kelly, M.D., who practices out of Cy-Fair; and others, alleging negligence, fraud and gross negligence.

Ramanathan says that on Sept. 10, 2009, emergency medical services admitted him to Memorial Hermann Hospital, as he was severely dehydrated from vomiting. According to the brief, hospital staff misdiagnosed his pain level and exacerbated his dehydration by administering an unnecessary CT scan.

The suit alleges the overlooked dehydration and an error in inserting the IV, resulting in a loss of eight units of blood, caused Ramanathan’s kidneys to fail.  

Ramanathan is seeking damages and attorney’s fees. It is being represented in the case by Corpus Christi attorney Justin Williams.

Harris County District Court Case No. 2011-57781.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Harris County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.