Suit: Brain surgery allegedly botched

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DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A Flat Rock, Mich., woman suffered brain damage after surgery was begun on the wrong side of her head to fix an aneurysm, her family alleges in a lawsuit.

Deborah Blankenship's family is suing neurosurgeon Robert Johnson and radiologist Hasnain Haider-Shah for allegedly botching Blankenship's treatment, The Detroit News reported Tuesday.

The 49-year-old woman died Dec. 8, 2008, 16 months after suffering an aneurysm that caused bleeding on the left side of her brain.

Johnson and Haider-Shah were the attending physicians at Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, Mich., when Blankenship was admitted to the emergency room on Aug. 7, 2007, with an acute artery leak in the left side of her brain, said the lawsuit filed Friday in Wayne County Circuit Court.

In surgery to correct the aneurysm, the right side of Blankenship's brain was cut open before the medical team realized the problem was on the left said, the lawsuit alleged.

Johnson, Haider-Shah and Oakwood Hospital officials were not available for comment, the News said.