Surgeon negligent in treatment of six-year-old boy

An Ontario Superior Court justice has found a Peterborough surgeon negligent in his treatment of a six-year-old boy who, in having a pebble removed from his ear, suffered severe damage to his middle ear and facial nerve, causing hearing loss and facial paralysis, says Toronto personal injury lawyer Aleks Mladenovic.

In September 2006, surgery was performed on the young boy, Stone Shearer, by Dr. Kenneth Sewchand at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Shearer v. Sewchand reads. Stone and his parents were represented by Mladenovic, partner with Thomson Rogers.

After taking her son to the health centre, Angela Shearer was told the pebble lodged in her son’s ear was large and difficult to move, and surgery would be required, the decision says. Immediately after the surgery, Shearer noticed the right side of her son’s face, the same side as the affected ear, appeared paralyzed. Stone was taken to the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) soon after, and the family was advised that reconstructive surgery was required for the ear, as the ear drum was punctured.

After surgery, a doctor advised Shearer that Stone’s “ear drum was perforated, and the facial nerve was partially severed,” the decision reads, noting she recalled being told “there was no malleus in the middle ear, that the stapes was crooked and that the incus was twisted or hanging.”

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