A Palm Beach County couple has filed a medical negligence lawsuit over what they allege were serious complications following bariatric surgery, complications that turned into an emergency and changed the course of recovery.
The civil complaint was filed Dec. 15, 2025, in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County. The case is styled Nancy Faiella and Daniel Faiella v. Kahlil A. Shillingford, M.D., and Kahlil A. Shillingford, MD PA, Case No. 502025CA013028XXXAMB.
According to the filing, Nancy Faiella underwent a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy on April 24, 2023, at Palm Beach Gardens Regional Surgery Center. The surgeon was Kahlil A. Shillingford, M.D., who is alleged to have been acting individually and through his professional association.
The complaint states that during the procedure Dr. Shillingford identified a moderate-sized hiatal hernia and repaired it in what was described as standard fashion. Before the surgery ended, the filing says, he checked for bleeding and leaking gastric contents and noted none. Mrs. Faiella was taken to the recovery room and told the surgery was successful.
But recovery, according to the lawsuit, did not go smoothly.
The complaint alleges Mrs. Faiella experienced substantial post-operative pain, along with elevated blood pressure and pulse. Later that day, April 24, she attempted to walk to the bathroom, fainted, and fell to the floor. Emergency Medical Services were called, and she was taken to the emergency room at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.
There, a CT scan of her abdomen allegedly showed a hematoma in the area around the spleen. The filing says that despite volume resuscitation, her condition continued to worsen. She developed tachycardia, which doctors interpreted as a sign of ongoing blood loss.
By the following day, April 25, 2023, the complaint states that doctors performed an emergency open exploratory abdominal surgery to find the source of the bleeding.
What they found, according to the lawsuit, was severe. The complaint alleges Mrs. Faiella had a laceration of the spleen, with active bleeding from the splenic hilum and a tear to the posterior pole of the spleen. The surgical team determined the bleeding was a complication from the earlier gastric sleeve surgery, the filing says.
The spleen could not be saved. It was removed.
The complaint also alleges that during the emergency surgery, surgeons reinforced the gastric sleeve staple line with clips in multiple areas where oozing was observed. During that same operation, Mrs. Faiella allegedly suffered two episodes of cardiac arrest and required transfusion of eight units of blood due to significant blood loss, resulting in post-operative anemia.
After surgery, Mrs. Faiella was admitted to the intensive care unit, where she remained for about a week. She then spent another week in the hospital before being discharged on May 8, 2023. Long days. ICU lights, monitors, alarms. That’s the picture the filing paints.
In Count I of the complaint, the plaintiffs allege individual negligence against Dr. Shillingford. The lawsuit claims he failed to meet prevailing medical standards, including allegedly negligent performance of the gastric sleeve surgery, failure to properly secure the staple line and clips, failure to identify injuries before closing, and failure to ensure a qualified surgeon with hospital privileges was available to cover a post-operative emergency admission.
Count II alleges that Kahlil A. Shillingford, MD PA, is vicariously liable for the alleged negligence of its employees and agents under theories of apparent agency and respondeat superior.
Count III brings a loss of consortium claim on behalf of Daniel Faiella, alleging that as a result of his wife’s injuries he suffered loss of companionship, services, and related damages.
The plaintiffs seek damages in excess of $50,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and have demanded a jury trial. All allegations remain unproven.
The plaintiffs are represented by Slingbaum Law, P.A., of Hollywood. Defense counsel had not been listed in the court record at the time of filing.
The original document, as filed with the Palm Beach County Clerk of Court, can be viewed here.
Here’s a plain-language breakdown of medical malpractice lawsuits and why they tend to move slowly.
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