Nerve damaged during throat surgery, med mal suit says

A Madison County woman says her doctor damaged a nerve near her throat during surgery, which has resulted in the woman’s inability to eat solid food.

Mary Ann Rodgers filed a lawsuit May 8 in the Madison County Circuit Court against Dr. Aayesha M. Khan, Alton Multispecialists and St. Anthony’s Health Center.

In her complaint, Rodgers claims Khan damaged her glossopharyngeal nerves during a tonsillectomy, septoplasty and inferior turbinate reduction Feb. 23, 2011.

It was not until Sept. 13, 2012, however, that Rodgers was diagnosed with a condition that resulted in her ability only to eat liquids and pureed foods. Rodgers has also suffered from reflux of food and liquids into her nasopharynx and has had her speech altered as a result of the surgery, the suit states.

She blames Khan for causing her injuries, saying the doctor negligently failed to conform to known dissection fields and surgical planes, failed to diagnose glossopharyngeal nerve paralysis and recommended a tonsillectomy.

Rodgers is seeking a judgment of more than $150,000. She is being represented by Robert D. Rowland of Goldenberg, Heller, Antognoli and Rowland in Edwardsville and Dave Dugan of Dave Dugan Law in East Alton.

Madison County Circuit Court case number 14-L-685.