Fort Bend man accuses doctor and hospital of negligence

A Fort Bend man is suing his doctor and a hospital, claiming he was hurt during a prostate procedure.

James I. Kaplani filed a lawsuit April 21 in Harris County Circuit Court against the Baylor College of Medicine and Dr. Larry I. Lipschultz. Kaplani accuses both defendants of negligence after he was allegedly injured during a biopsy.

According to the petition, Kaplani went to the Urology Department at Baylor College of Medicine in April 2009 for a scheduled prostate biopsy. Kaplani alleges the procedure was supposed to be performed by Dr. Lipschultz but instead was done by a physician's assistant without a doctor present.

Several days later, Kaplani says he started having rectal bleeding. After being admitted to the Methodist Sugar Land Hospital emergency room, Kaplani claims he underwent rectal surgery to remove blood clots and stop the bleeding that was allegedly caused by the biopsy.

Kaplani accuses Dr. Lipschultz and Baylor College of Medicine of negligence and asks for an unspecified amount of money in damages for medical expenses, plus court costs.

Attorney Jay S. Pearlman is representing Kaplani.

Harris County Circuit Court case No. 2011-24587.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Harris County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.