Northwest Community Hospital, doctor accused of performing woman's surgery on wrong knee

A McHenry County woman is suing over claims she was admitted to the hospital for knee surgery and the surgeon performed the surgery on the wrong knee.

Margaret McLaughlin filed a lawsuit April 17 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Dr. Phillip Ludowski, individually and as an agent for Illinois Bone and Joint Institute LLC, Northwest Community Hospital, Northwest Community Day Surgery Center II LLC, Northwest Community Day Surgery Center Inc. and Northwest Community Healthcare.

According to the complaint, McLaughlin was admitted to North Community Hospital on April 19, 2012 for an arthroscopic surgery on her left knee and Ludowski accidentally performed the surgery on her right knee.

McLaughlin is seeking more than $50,000 in damages and is being represented in the case by Park Ridge attorney James L. Allegretti.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014-L-004386.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. 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.