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Comedian Trevor Noah Sues His Orthopedic Surgeon, Says the Doctor Was Negligent and Caused Permanent Injury

Comedian Trevor Noah sued his doctor and the hospital that he works out of for negligence.  The Comedy Central staple contends in a 15-page summons and complaint filing that the orthopedic surgeon was “careless.”

Law and Crime reports thatThe Daily Show” host became a patient of Dr. Riley J. Williams III at the Hospital for Special Surgery on Aug. 25, 2020. After establishing his needs with the physician, he underwent surgery on Nov. 23, 2020, and culminated his care with Williams and the hospital, almost a year ago, on Dec. 17, 2020.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 19: Trevor Noah attends the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards at L.A. LIVE on September 19, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)

Between then and now, Noah has become dissatisfied with the service and filed a complaint with the New York State Supreme Court.

The outlet does not share many details from the lengthy lawsuit, but notes that within it, Noah alleges that the defendants, “were negligent and careless in failing to treat and care for” the funny man “in a careful and skillful manner.”

He further asserts that the doctor failed “to use approved methods in general use in the care and treatment” and did not “prescribe proper medications.” He then stated in the document that Williams did not “discontinue certain prescription medications,” and didn’t “use proper tests and examinations in order to diagnose the conditions from which” the Emmy winner “was suffering.”

Now according to the lawsuit, Noah has injuries from the surgery that are “grievous” but have left him “lame and disabled.”

The South African native says that his life has been drastically impacted by the surgery.

He reveals how bad the after-effects of the surgery are by including that he “sustained severe and painful personal injuries; sustained severe nervous shock, mental anguish, severe emotional distress, and great physical pain.”

He states that over the last year, he was confined to bed and home for a long period of time and had to receive additional medical aid and treatment from a different hospital. The trauma of it has cost him his “enjoyment of life” over the past year, he claims. He also claims it affected his work.

Over the summer, Noah did take an unusually long break from “The Daily Show.” Deadline noted, “Noah is taking a slightly longer summer hiatus … The South African will begin his summer hiatus on Friday, June 18 with the show returning September 13. This is longer than his usual two-break break in previous years.”

At the time, fans were told that the break was to help revamp the look and feel of the show.

The show has returned and continues to be a popular choice on Comedy Central.

Currently, Noah is promoting his stand-up concert series titled the “Back to Abnormal” tour.

Law and Crime reports that Noah’s lawsuit was filed in a New York County Supreme Court on Nov. 29.  And on or around Dec. 9, received a rebuttal from the doctor and the hospital.

The hospital’s public relations team emailed them the following:

“HSS received a complaint filed on behalf of Mr. Trevor Noah. We have shared with Mr. Noah’s attorney a detailed rebuttal to the claims, which are meritless. Due to HIPAA we are restricted by law from addressing publicly specific aspects of the treatment of any patient. HSS is committed to excellence in the care we provide to each of the more than 150,000 patients we treat each year. This commitment has made HSS the world’s leading academic medical center specialized in musculoskeletal health, consistently ranked #1 in orthopedics globally and nationally.”

The website for the hospital maintains that it has been nationally ranked as No. 1 in “orthopedics (for 12 years in a row) and No. 4 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2021-2022).” It also says that it is the “official Hospital of the New York Giants, Mets, Knicks, Red Bulls, as well as the Brooklyn Nets.”


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