Pamela Williams couldn't understand why her bottom was covered with infected, painful blisters after what she believed was a routine gynecological procedure at Bethesda Hospital in 2005.
Days earlier, the Bethesda employee and Bond Hill resident underwent an outpatient procedure to eliminate fibroids and thin the uterine wall to relieve her discomfort.
To perform the procedure, Williams chose respected doctor Alan Altman, head of Bethesda's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Now, though, Williams is suing her employer and Altman.
In her Hamilton County lawsuit, she accuses Altman of botching the procedure so badly that he scalded her vagina, rectum and other areas with a superheated saline solution. Then, the malpractice suit adds, Altman sent her home without telling her about the scalding or treating her second- and third-degree burns.
Williams, a 14-year Bethesda employee, wouldn't be interviewed for this story because of the sensitivity of her job, said James Posey, her attorney. "She works at the (public relations) department at Bethesda and that's where she deals with malpractice suits against the hospital."
Neither attorneys for Bethesda nor for Altman and Associates in OB/GYN Inc., a Montgomery group of obstetric and gynecological doctors, would comment.
Williams alleges the botched procedure caused lifelong disfigurement that resulted in her permanent "inability to engage in marital relations with her husband" as well as pain during bowel movements.
In the Feb. 22, 2005, procedure called an "endometrial ablation," a wand containing a saline solution heated to 195 degrees was inserted into her uterus. The heated solution was supposed to be released into and left in the uterus for 10 minutes.
"The concept is it goes in and, in essence, bakes off the lining of the uterus to end that situation or limit it," Posey said.
The wand is encased in a sheath and plugs the cervix, creating a dam that prevents the 195-degree saline solution from leaking out. While that wand was still filling the uterus with the heated solution, Altman is alleged to have ignored several warning beeps from the machine and taken the wand out while it still was releasing the 195-degree solution and scalded Williams.
The machine's operating manual notes the wand isn't to be removed until the water has cooled to room temperature. Altman admitted he never reviewed the operator's manual for Williams' procedure - but insisted he didn't deviate from proper medical care.
"Additionally, (Altman and his group) dispute the nature and extent of Mrs. Williams' alleged injuries," court documents, filed by Altman's attorneys, note.
But medical workers who treated Williams days later didn't.
The injuries, because of their severity and location on her body, stunned emergency room staff.
"The burns to Pamela Williams were so pronounced and horrific that hospital personnel inquired as to whether she was the victim of physical abuse by her husband," Williams' suit alleges.
In court documents, Altman blames the two nurses assisting him for Williams' burns, saying they didn't obey his instructions to turn off the machine in time to avoid the scalding - but both nurses swore under oath they heard no such instruction.
"(T)he only evidence before this Court that Bethesda's nursing staff deviated from accepted standards of care has been submitted by ... Altman," Bethesda attorneys noted in court documents. Bethesda denied all allegations of neglect by the hospital and its staff.
The suit seeks an unspecified amount of money for Williams and her husband.
Attorneys for Altman and the hospital noted in court documents Williams wanted $1 million to dismiss the suit. It is set for trial Tuesday before Common Pleas Court Judge Jody Luebbers
By Kimball Perry • kperry@enquirer.com