Woman claims her life is shattered after Harvard hospital allegedly severs artery during routine surgery

A Massachusetts woman is suing Harvard University’s prestigious teaching hospital claiming she had to have her lung removed following what was supposed to be a routine procedure. 

Elizabeth Kousoubris, a 54-year-old mother of two and Boston University adjunct professor, alleges in her lawsuit that a minimally invasive surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) spiraled into a life-altering ordeal due to a critical surgical error. 

According to court filings, surgeons accidentally severed her pulmonary artery – a blood vessels that carries oxygen from the heart to lungs – cutting off blood supply to her lung and forcing its removal. 

Kousoubris, a lifelong athlete, told DailyMail.com she had lived a ‘pristine lifestyle,’ running marathons and never smoking a cigarette. 

But a routine x-ray in 2021 revealed a small, slow-growing cancerous mass on her right lung, according to court documents. Doctors monitored it for more than a year before advising surgery in April 2023.

Trusting the reputation of MGH, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers, Kousoubris agreed to undergo what she believed would be a straightforward operation to remove the mass.

Instead, her family claims in a lawsuit that a surgical mistake triggered a cascade of life-threatening complications. 

The severed artery deprived her lung of blood and caused it to rapidly deteriorate. Kousoubris spent several days in critical condition before surgeons were forced to remove the entire lung, the family and court documents say.

Elizabeth Kousoubris (pictured here with husband Dr Philip Kousoubris) went to Massachusetts General Hospital for a routine lung surgery. She ended up losing her a lung

Kousoubris spent days in organ failure before making the decision to have her lung removed

Kousoubris told DailyMail.com: ‘There’s a level of comfort when you go to Mass General. You know they deal with complex situations. 

‘You know that they have top people. And then to have this happen and to have this stone barrier erected basically to prevent culpability. How in God’s name did this happen?’

Now, she and her husband, Dr. Philip Kousoubris, a neuroradiologist in the Boston area, are suing MGH for medical malpractice. 

Independent medical experts reviewing the case concluded that Kousoubris’ care ‘fell below the accepted standard of care,’ directly resulting in the loss of her lung, according to a letter from the physicians shared with DailyMail.com. 

In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for Mass General Brigham told DailyMail.com: ‘While we are unable to comment on ongoing litigation, we are committed to providing safe, high quality care for our patients and always strive for the best possible outcomes and to ensure patients are aware of any potential complications prior to treatment.

‘Complex surgeries such as the one described have many known risks. Our clinical teams discuss these risks with each patient prior to every surgery to ensure the patient is able to make their own informed decision.’

Court documents provided to DailyMail.com by MGH show the hospital has denied all accusations. 

Before surgery, Kousoubris exercised regularly and followed a strict diet

Kousoubris has also had to stop teaching full time. She is now a part-time adjunct

In June 2023, Kousoubris underwent a video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy (VATS), a minimally invasive procedure meant to remove a lobe using small incisions, court documents show. 

Kousoubris said: ‘Everything that could go wrong, except for the fact that I lived, did.’

Doctors allegedly were able to determine within the first hour of the procedure that Kousoubris had lymphoma, court documents show. They determined this through sampling the mass and sending it to pathology.

However, the family says the surgical team allegedly didn’t call Dr Kousoubris to tell him they found cancer or ask what further steps to take. Instead, they removed Kousoubris’ entire upper right lobe of her lung to take out the mass, which was not part of the procedure.

A three-hour surgery quickly turned into seven hours, the family says.  

Kousoubris spent two days in the hospital without complications before doctors sent her ‘home to die,’ she told DailyMail.com.

On her third day home from the hospital, Kousoubris says she spiked a high fever and was hit with extreme nausea. She then returned to the hospital. 

Detailed in the complaint, CT scans revealed the pulmonary artery had been severed and stapled to her lung, which meant there was no blood flow to the lung. 

Pictured is a CT scan following Kousoubris’ pneumonectomy. Her lung is absent

Pictured above is the 10-inch scar from the intensive surgery

Kousoubris said she laid in a hospital bed for two days in ‘indescribable’ pain as her right lung became necrotic and died. Her only hope of surviving was a pneumonectomy, a risky operation that involves removing an entire lung. 

The pneumonectomy was successful, but Kousoubris was left in the ICU with only one lung, the complaint says. Once a lifelong athlete, she would have to learn how to walk, swim and even go outside again.

Dr Kousoubris told this website: ‘Elizabeth was botched and she never should have been.’ 

He compared it to losing an eye during Lasik. ‘This does not happen,’ he said. 

Dr Keith Horvath, a cardiothoracic surgeon in the Washington DC area, consulted on the case as part of the Kousoubris family’s ongoing lawsuit against MGH. He was not involved in the surgery.

In a letter written to Kousoubris’ lawyers, reviewed by DailyMail.com, Dr Horvath wrote: ‘In my professional opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, Ms. Kousoubris, age 52, suffered the loss of her right lung as a direct result of the substandard care and treatment rendered to her by thoracic surgeon.’ 

‘Nobody has the courage to stand up to the giant,’ Kousoubris said of MGH

After surgery, Kousoubris has suffered fevers, severe coughing and chronic heart conditions

The family said they consulted with independent doctors who claimed if a pulmonary artery is severed during surgery, it would immediately be noticeable, as the lung would change color. 

Dr Korvath in his letter also accused MGH of refusing to provide video of the procedure and instead allegedly sent him an ‘incomplete’ 32-minute audio recording that ‘fails to include video of the stapling and division of critical structures which is at issue.’

After a year and a half of subpoenas, MGH allegedly still has not provided video from the surgery, according to the complaint and the family. 

Dr Kousoubris, who spent several years practicing at Mass General before moving to another institution, said: ‘There is a culture of denial and elitism and lack of culpability there that they cannot be touched. There is a culture there of coverup.’  

‘Nobody has the courage to stand up to the giant,’ Kousoubris added.

Kousoubris had a new battle to face when she came home from the hospital. Though she credits her strict diet and exercise routine for helping the process, she is far from recovered. 

‘Nothing could have prepared me for the last two years,’ she told this website. 

Kousoubris is pictured here walking on a trail after her pneumonectomy

The Kousoubris family said they are speaking to keep these incidents from happening again

A pneumonectomy results in a mediastinal shift, or the displacement of the central compartment of the chest, called the mediastinum. 

For Kousoubris, she claims her heart shifted positions and she suffers from atrial fibrillation (AFib), a type of irregular heartbeat where the heart’s upper chambers beat chaotically. 

Even while sitting down, she said her heart rate can spike to 180 beats per minute. 

She also claims, as detailed by court documents, she spent months during recovery coughing so severely that she often vomited. 

She has gone back to teaching part time, but the former athlete said she struggles to walk up stairs, let alone run marathons as she previously did. 

Kousoubris said: ‘Breathing is something that we all do. We don’t think about it, we just do it. And it’s taken me almost two years to be able to walk and move, carry something and breathe at the same time. I had to learn how to do all of that again. 

‘My new normal is very different now.’

As the litigation against MGH continues, Kousoubris hopes speaking out will inspire other patients to do the same.

She said: ‘As a human being, I feel an obligation. Not everyone’s going to be as lucky as me. I’m the lucky one. 

‘I cannot sit back and be silenced. Maybe it’ll save one life or invoke some change.’