Following Biojoint surgery on his knees, plaintiff Ken Browne filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against James Stannard, medical director of the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute, James Cook, a veterinarian who is director of operations at the institute, and the University of Missouri Healthcare center. While Stannard described both Mizzou Biojoint surgeries a success, Browne experienced long-term pain and swelling in both knees. He then underwent standard knee replacement surgery.
Ken Browne first saw James Stannard in October 2015, when Stannard recommended a Biojoint procedure instead of standard knee replacement surgery on his left knee. A year after the Biojoint surgery, Browne complained of pain and swelling in that knee. Browne subsequently had Biojoint surgery on his right knee in August 2017. In February 2018, Browne repeatedly complained about pain but Stannard’s medical notes, as revealed in court, stated that both surgeries had gone extremely well. In April, Stannard agreed that both surgeries had failed and recommended standard knee replacement. Browne filed a medical negligence lawsuit in Boone County Circuit Court.
Two previous medical malpractice lawsuits against Stannard, Cook, and the University of Missouri Healthcare center were filed on behalf of Daniel Draper and Amanda Reinsch.
Orthopedic Surgery Expert Witnesses & Biojoint Litigation (March 22, 2018) reported:
Two patients at the Mizzou Biojoint Center in Columbia, MO, have filed lawsuits alleging medical negligence following knee surgery. The 13th Judicial Circuit of Missouri lawsuit charges James Stannard, MD, medical director for the Mizzou Biojoint Center, and James Cook, DVM, PHD, OTSC, director of operations and scientific director of the center, with not disclosing that the surgeries were experimental. Plaintiffs Amanda Reinsch and Daniel Draper were also not advised that Cook is not a medical doctor, nor was he a licensed physician at the time.
Plaintiffs Reinsch and Draper allege that Stannard failed to tell them they were not proper candidates for the surgery. Their body mass indexes were both above 35 and Reinsch was not nicotine free.
Draper was an active duty member of the U.S. Army. He underwent a second Mizzou Biojoint surgery when the first was unsuccessful. Draper eventually underwent a total knee replacement following the two unsuccessful Biojoint surgeries. Draper states that he lost the ability to continue his career in the military and can no longer live independently.
Stannard recommended the Mizzou Biojoint surgery to Reinsch in 2016. She had pain following the procedure and had two additional follow up surgeries. A second opinion led to a total knee replacement by a different surgeon who found that Reinsch’s knee was infected with staph bacteria. She reports irreversible and permanent damage to her knee.
Allegations of medical malpractice against orthopedic surgeons usually stem from medical complications, poor surgical outcomes, and/or a possible loss of function. Biojoint surgery is an involved type of allograft. In the procedure, tissue is harvested from a cadaver for transplantation into another person. The complications may include infection, reoperation, Biojoint rejection, and Biojoint failure. Orthopedic surgery expert witnesses provide an educated and unbiased opinion regarding the medical standard of care in these lawsuits. Contact ELITE Medical Experts to secure a leading orthopedic surgery expert from a major US academic medical center.
