A Michigan woman alleges hospital staff lost a chunk of her skull during surgery and attempted to compensate her with a $25 gas station gift card.
Edna Burton, 61, of Detroit, suffered a stroke and underwent emergency brain surgery at Ascension St. John Hospital in 2023 – the very same operating room where she worked for more than two decades, according to a lawsuit reviewed by Daily Mail.
Medical staff removed a ‘chunk’ of her skull during during the operation. But when the time came to reattach it, doctors realized the bone was gone – allegedly because the hospital confused her with another patient.
Although surgeons replaced the gap with a prosthetic plate, family members say Burton’s health has rapidly deteriorated since.
‘She stopped talking, stopped eating, bed-bound, she has bed sores,’ Burton’s daughter, Erica Burton, told WDIV News.
Court documents revealed that hospital administrators attempted to make things right with a $25 gas card – an offer the family described as ‘insulting.’
‘They could say that it all, what she’s going through, stemmed from the stroke, but how do we know?’ Erica told the outlet.
‘You threw her bone away. You didn’t even give her the chance.’
Edna Burton, 61, of Michigan, alleges hospital staff lost a chunk of her skull during surgery and attempted to compensate her with a $25 gas station gift card
It came after Burton suffered a stroke and underwent emergency brain surgery at Ascension St. John Hospital in 2023 – the very same operating room where she worked for more than two decades, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday
On Tuesday, The Oliver Bell Group filed a lawsuit for the Burton family, asserting that the mother’s life was forever changed due to the hospital’s severe mishandling, according to a news release.
‘Our client deserved dependable medical care during a life-threatening emergency,’ Founding Partner and Attorney Alyson Oliver said. ‘Instead, she suffered an avoidable and life-changing injury due to simple negligence.’
On June 14, 2023, Burton was admitted to the hospital for a stroke and required ‘urgent treatment,’ as she was fighting for her life, according to the complaint.
Just five days later, she underwent a decompressive right hemicraniectomy with Dr. Chin Yuen To to ease swelling in her brain.
Essentially, a piece of her skull – known medically as a bone flap – was removed so the swelling brain would have room to expand, preventing potentially severe impairment.
‘The surgeon was clear that the skull was to be preserved so it could be reattached after the swelling subsided,’ the law firm said.
Burton returned to the operating room on March 4, 2024, at the same hospital – now Henry Ford St. John Hospital – where Dr. To was set to reattach the bone flap to her skull. Not long after, staff realized her removed bone had disappeared.
According to the lawsuit, Dr. To’s own medical notes read: ‘Her brain swelling has gone down and now I recommend replacement of her bone flap using her own bone.’
Burton’s daughter, Erica Burton (pictured), said the hospital’s attempt to compensate for their alleged mistakes with a gift card was ‘insulting’
Surgeons replaced the gap with a prosthetic plate, but Burton’s family says she is now unable to talk or eat without a feeding tube, requires around-the-clock care and remains bed-bound
Attorney Cameron Bell (pictured), who is representing the family, told WDIV: ‘We think it’s asinine that they’re suggesting she’s better off with the artificial skull compared to her natural God-given chunk of her skull’
‘However, her bone was lost by the hospital so we are using a prosthetic plate of skull that the hospital paid for as replacement to reimplant,’ it added.
The medical team allegedly told the family that the hospital had mixed up her skull with that of another patient, named Edna Brown.
‘We think it’s asinine that they’re suggesting she’s better off with the artificial skull compared to her natural God-given chunk of her skull,’ Attorney Cameron Bell, who is representing the family, told WDIV.
The law firm said that staff offered a $25 gift card shortly after the obvious blunder, which the family has since called ‘adding insult to injury.’
‘What should have been a step toward recovery became a frightening ordeal that continues to affect her daily life, health, and safety,’ the firm wrote.
The legal team is now aiming to hold the hospital responsible and pursue full compensation to support Burton’s care, as her family says her life has been forever changed since the prosthetic was implanted.
‘Her physical therapist said I’m not going to continue to do physical therapy because we’re torturing her with how much pain she’s in,’ her daughter Erica told WDIV, adding that her mother now requires around-the-clock care and a feeding tube.
According to the suit, the amount in controversy exceeds $25,000.
‘It’s not even about the money. You don’t know what you took from us,’ she added.
‘I got a 20-month-old baby, a 5-year-old daughter, and an 8-year-old son. It’s like, please let them remember their nana.’
Henry Ford Health, which assumed control of Ascension St. John Hospital in 2024, is reportedly trying to have its name removed from the lawsuit in favor of Ascension, according to Law & Crime.
‘Providing safe, reliable, high-quality healthcare for every person who walks through our doors is always our highest priority,’ a Henry Ford Health spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
‘While we cannot comment on pending litigation, it’s important to point out the alleged activity outlined in this lawsuit occurred more than a year before Henry Ford Health assumed operations of St. John Hospital.’
Henry Ford Health did not immediately respond to Daily Mail’s request for comment.