Dentist paralyzed after 'low-risk' spinal surgery—now he's suing

A Seattle-area dentist is suing UW Harborview Medical Center after he says a routine spinal surgery left him paralyzed from the chest down. ^[]

Ron Ko, DMD, 49, underwent surgery in 2022 to remove a benign tumor from his spinal cord. Prior to the procedure, Ko says he was fully mobile and led an active life, balancing his dental practice with raising two young children.

The procedure was described as low-risk, but when Dr. Ko awoke from anesthesia, he discovered he could no longer move his lower body.

Now permanently disabled, Dr. Ko has filed a tort claim against Harborview and the University of Washington, alleging that medical negligence during surgery caused irreversible spinal cord damage.

A low-risk surgery with devastating consequences

According to his legal team, Dr. Ko was initially diagnosed with a spinal cord neoplasm, a benign tumor. His surgical team told him they'd biopsy the tumor and try resection if possible.

Additionally, Dr. Ko's surgeons told him that while he might experience temporary weakness after the operation, he was considered low-risk for complications due to his good health.

Dr. Ko said he was misinformed about other aspects of his surgery as well. In his claim, he states his surgery took eight hours—instead of the expected four to six hours—and that residents participated in his procedure, even though he was told only two fellowship-trained surgeons would be scrubbing in.

Some doctors on r/medicine talking about the case agree with Dr. Ko's claim. "If this guy said no residents or fellows and only fellowship-trained attendings and they didn’t do that, that’s a big deal to me," said user @phovendor54.

However, other docs find it hard to believe Dr. Ko wasn't aware of his surgery's risks. "Guarantee he signed a consent form that outlined the risks of the surgery, including permanent paralysis," wrote @casapantalones.

And @ddx-me echoed similar sentiments: "We're hearing it from the litigant's point of view. I'd wait to pass judgment of malpratice... But it seems that the dentist wanted to play the story that the surgery did not go as anticipated even with the best standard of care. There is the possibility that the tumor infiltrated into the spinal cord, which would make it harder to avoid postop neuro deficits."

Harborview Medical Center, a Level I trauma facility affiliated with UW Medicine, had declined to comment on the specifics of the case, citing ongoing litigation.

Although the full details of the surgical course remain under investigation, the case raises critical questions about risk communication, surgical technique, and postoperative care.

For clinicians, it serves as a stark reminder that even “low-risk" procedures can still progress unexpectedly.