Amy Herbst, an opera singer with the Nashville Opera Company, has had to leave her job because a botched surgery has forced her to lose control of her flatulence and her bowel movements. Herbst says the botched surgery has left her with a condition that is at its worst when she sings.
Amy Herbst has filed a $2.5 million dollar lawsuit against Fort Campbell’s Blanchfield Army Community Hospital. The official court documents show that the suit was filed earlier this month. Herbst lawsuit contends that when she was in the process of giving birth last February the doctors gave her what is called an episiotomy. An episiotomy is when a doctor severs the tissue between the vagina and rectum in order to aid in child birth and prevent tearing. Herbst contends that the botched surgery did not heal correctly and she was left with a “complete breakdown of the episiotomy and perineum and the external sphincter is disrupted and the vagina and rectum are basically connected without any perineal body”.
Upon returning to work after the surgery Herbst said that whenever she was signing she found that she would fart uncontrollably and that she would sometimes poop in her pants.
The lawsuit further states:
“As a result of her incontinence and excessive flatulence, Herbst has been unable to work as a professional opera singer.”
Herbst’s attorney, Charles Allen, gave an interview with the Army Times where he said:
“She is suffering though a very embarrassing and very significant injury, and frankly, the prognosis of a fully successful repair is pretty low”.
While Herbst’s alleged botched surgery had some extreme results, episiotomies are very common during the birthing process. Doctors advise pregnant women to use exercises and workout tools to loosen the vagina for childbirth so that tearing will be kept to a minimum and an episiotomy will not be necessary.
Do you think that Amy Herbst deserves $2.5 million dollars for a botched surgery?
