Belleville neurosurgeon, Memorial named in med mal complaint

A former patient accuses a Belleville neurosurgeon of medical negligence, claiming the doctor performed a surgery that left her with permanent nerve damage.

Mary Dickerson filed a lawsuit against Dr. William W. Sprich, MSA Alliance LLC, doing business as Neurological Surgery of Southern Illinois, Memorial Hospital of Belleville, Memorial Hospital Foundation and nurse Mary Ann Klein on Nov. 12 in St. Clair County Circuit Court. Dickerson says each of the defendants is responsible for injuries she allegedly suffered during surgery meant to repair damage to her spine.

According to the complaint, Dickerson underwent lumbar spinal surgery at Memorial Hospital of Belleville in November 2008. Dr. Sprich performed the procedure at L4, L5 – S1 of Dickerson's back. Dickerson says Klein assisted in the surgery.

Immediately following surgery, Dickerson says she had numbness in both feet and could not lift them easily. In January 2009, further medical tests allegedly showed Dickerson had suffered bilateral nerve damage.

Dickerson blames Dr. Sprich, Klein and the medical facility for failing to protect her nerves and nerve roots during the spinal surgery. She says the defendants' negligence caused her to suffer irreversible trauma to her nerves.

Dickerson says nerve damage left her with foot drop, numbness and pain on both sides of her body. She claims she cannot walk normally which keeps her from performing everyday tasks or enjoying life.

Dickerson is asking each of the four defendants to pay more than $50,000 in damages.

Attorneys Leonard P. Cervantes and John H. Marshall of St. Louis are representing Dickerson. They demand a jury trial.

St. Clair County Circuit Court Case No. 10-L594