A Florida doctor did disc surgery on part of a woman’s back and neck — the wrong part

A Brooksville doctor performed elective surgery on a woman’s back and neck area when the surgery was supposed to involve just the neck, according to the Florida Department of Health.

For his mistake, Dr. James Billys will get a letter of concern from the Florida Board of Medicine. He will also pay a $3,000 fine, have to take a five-hour continuing medical education course in risk management, and do a one-hour lecture on wrong site surgery at Brandon Regional Hospital., the hospital at which he holds privileges..

The Board of Medicine’s final order with the above consequences for Billys notes, “The facts are not in dispute.”

The Department of Health’s administrative complaint says Billys, while working at Crane Creek Surgical Center in Melbourne, was supposed to a total disc arthroplasty on a woman.

According to Chicago’s The Spine Center, a total disc arthroplasty is “a surgical technique that completely removes a compromised spinal disc, replacing it with a specially designed implant made of polyethylene and metal. The procedure is commonly referred to as total disc replacement.”

This was supposed to be done on C5-6 and C6-7 vertebrae in the neck.

“During the procedure, [Billys] inadvertently performed an arthroplasty on C6-7 and C7-T1,” the complaint states.

Spine-Health.com explains, “The C7-T1 spinal motion segment connects the neck (cervical spine) with the upper back (thoracic spine). Together they form the cervicothoracic junction.”

How this affected the patient isn’t listed in the complaint.

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