Amputated Leg Found In Trash, Patient Sues Hospital

A Florida man who had his leg amputated was later informed that his leg was found in the trash with his name still on it, Reuters reported via Yahoo News. John Timiriasieff had his right leg amputated below the knee, and the hospital disposed of the leg by throwing it in the trash. He is suing Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables, where he had the surgery performed.

” ‘Rather than properly disposing of the plaintiff’s limb as expected and as required by Florida law, Doctors Hospital threw the Plaintiff’s amputated limb into the garbage, with tags indicating it belonged to the Plaintiff,’ according to the lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court,” Reuters reported.

Timiriasieff was contacted weeks later after his amputated leg was found in the trash by local police, who investigated it as possible case of foul play. Given that hospitals do not normally dispose of an amputated leg in that manner, the presence of one in the trash cause police to investigate.

“When the family went back to the hospital to find out what happened, they were told it would ‘provide no explanation for what had occurred,’ the lawsuit said,” Reuters reported.

The hospital informed Reuters that it has investigated the situation and claims proper measures have been taken to prevent it from happening again. “Proper procedures have been reinforced at the hospital to prevent similar situations from happening in the future,” Doctors Hospital said in a statement in released.

” ‘Normally, amputated limbs are incinerated by hospitals,’ said Clay Roberts, a lawyer for Timiriasieff. Roberts said he wrote to the hospital in January but got no response. Reuters reported that in the lawsuit, Timiriasieff described the hospital’s conduct as ‘outrageous and beyond the bounds of human decency as to be regarded as odious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.’ ”

“A Florida man is suing a hospital after his amputated leg was found in the trash,” NBC Channel 6 News reported. “According to the Miami Herald, the Key Largo man went to Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables to have his leg amputated below his knee. The hospital then threw the leg away instead of incinerating it, which is the normal practice.”

John Timiriasieff will be suing the hospital where he had his leg amputated, the Inquisitr reported. The patient believes his privacy was violated by having the amputated leg thrown in the trash with his name tag still attached.

“A Florida man, John Timiriasieff, was shocked when homicide detectives contacted his family after his amputated leg was found in the garbage. The amputee had his leg removed from the knee down at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables. However, instead of properly disposing of the amputated limb, doctors threw the leg into a garbage bin with Timiriasieff’s name still attached to a tag. The man is now suing the hospital for the ‘outrageous’ behavior,” the Inquisitr reported.

[Surgery photo by Getty Images from NBC Channel 6 News, South Florida]