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Clarence Clemons’ Family Files Malpractice Lawsuit
The news has come out that the family of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons filed a malpractice lawsuit against three doctors last year, accusing the medical team of causing the stroke that contributed to The Big Man’s death in June 2011.
Clemons died at a Florida hospital at age 69, about a week after suffering a stroke at his Singer Island home.
Photo: AP Photo
Olympic Stadium, Munich, Germany
Prior to the stroke the saxophonist underwent surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome. Showbiz 411, which exclusively obtained the complaint, points out that Clemons’ wife Victoria told Rolling Stone he had “lost sensation in his index finger and thumb.” This surgery is at the center of the malpractice suit, filed by The Big Man’s brother, William Clemons. William is the father of Jake Clemons, who is one of two saxophonists on tour with the E Street Band.
The entertainment news website says the complaint names the Palm Beach Cancer Center and three specialists connected to the facility – Drs. Robert J. Jacobson, David W. Dodson and Keith Meyer. The physicians are accused of “not administering Lovenox, a short term blood thinner, before or after the hand surgery.” According to Showbiz 411, the lawsuit claims this decision may have been a mistake that caused Clarence’s stroke. The hand surgeon is not listed in the suit.
A day after the surgery Showbiz 411 says Victoria found her husband “on the floor, beside the bed, confused and dysarthric [unable to speak properly].”
The malpractice suit got the approval last month to go ahead to a jury trial.