Family of dead teacher hires lawyer for answers

Al Greenway's family wants to know why mistakes were made during the robotic surgery, said lawyer Steve Yerrid.

By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 5, 2002

TAMPA -- Questions surrounding the death of teacher Al Greenway during kidney removal surgery last month will not go unanswered, a lawyer said Monday.

Steve Yerrid, retained by the Greenway family, said it was time the family was allowed to know why the surgery went wrong.

"We are not willing to settle for less than the whole truth," Yerrid said at a news conference at his Tampa office.

A popular Plant High biology teacher, Greenway, 53, died Oct. 13 at St. Joseph's Hospital, two days after a surgeon used the robotic da Vinci Surgical System to remove a cancerous kidney. During the surgery, two blood vessels, including the aorta, were severed. The problem wasn't noticed for about 90 minutes.

Hospital officials announced the cause of Greenway's death at a news conference last week. The next day, lawyer Joseph Diaco confirmed that his client, urologist Tod J. Fusia, had performed the surgery and that Fusia wanted to convey his sympathies to the family.

Greenway's family, who was at Monday's news conference but did not comment, has not filed a lawsuit. Yerrid said the case was not about money, although he did not rule out filing a suit.

Yerrid did not want to talk about specifics of the surgery and the aftermath. He said the case went beyond medical malpractice and raised a number of questions about when the family was told about what went wrong, and exactly what they were told about the surgery.

As family members of patients, "we expect to know the truth and know the truth when it occurs," he said.

Yerrid added that the surgeon originally scheduled to perform the surgery the day before was not on Greenway's insurance program. The next day, the Greenways were "directed" toward Fusia, Yerrid said.

"This says something about a system in which families are forced away from their doctors of choice," he said.

Robot systems allow a surgeon to enter a patient's abdomen through several small incisions, not one large opening. A long tube with a miniature video camera at the tip is inserted into one of the incisions to allow the surgeon to look around.

With the help of long tubes, the surgeon slides rods into the incisions that have scalpels, scissors or other surgical tools at the end. The surgeon then uses handles to manipulate the tools to perform the operation.

An evaluation of the robot that helped assist with Greenway's kidney removal determined that it operated properly. Yerrid said he would be looking into the protocols and training needed for using new technologies in the operating room.

A spokeswoman for Intuitive Surgical Inc., which makes the robot, said last week that the robot did not make the cut that led to Greenway's death. The surgeon had moved to the patient and was using nonrobotic surgical techniques when the vessels were cut, she said.

Yerrid said the family thought Fusia, who had used the robot about 10 times in kidney removal procedures, had more experience with the surgery. They were surprised he is still allowed to perform surgeries at the hospital while a state investigation is ongoing, Yerrid said.

"We will be looking at everything that went on," Yerrid said.

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