A surgeon operated on a Milford man’s wrong leg, leaving him with lasting nerve damage, a lawsuit said.
The doctor, Adam Darcy of Acadia Foot & Ankle, operated on Randy Hicks’ right leg instead of his left leg where he had a partial Achilles tendon tear and partial tear in a foot tendon, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Penobscot County Superior Court.
Hicks is suing Darcy, St. Joseph Hospital, Covenant Health, and Acadia Foot & Ankle, alleging medical negligence after the botched surgery in 2024. He is asking for unspecified damages for the pain and suffering he continues to experience, according to the lawsuit.
This is not the first time Darcy operated on the wrong limb. He amputated the wrong toe on a different patient in 2017, and was sued by that patient as well.
Darcy’s surgical privileges were revoked by St. Joseph and Northern Light Health in late 2025 and early 2026. The Maine Board of Licensure of Podiatric Medicine issued a lifetime restriction on Darcy’s surgical license.
St. Joseph Hospital and Darcy could not be immediately reached Friday for comment.
“Wrong-site surgery is what patient safety experts call a ‘never event’ – a mistake that should never happen because it’s entirely preventable with basic verification protocols that hospitals are required to follow,” Hicks’ attorney, Travis Brennan said. “This is a nightmare scenario for any patient — to go in for surgery on one limb and awake to discover it was performed on the wrong limb.”
In July 2023, Hicks went to Darcy because of left heel and foot pain, according to the lawsuit. After the pain did not go away, Hicks was scheduled for surgery on July 26, 2024.
Darcy met with Hicks before the surgery and marked his left leg as the one to operate on, the lawsuit said. Hicks was taken to the operating room and then staff for the surgery timed out and new staff came on – staff that instead prepared Hicks’ right leg for surgery.
Darcy operated on Hicks’ right leg and documented that he repaired the Achilles tendon, while also saying he had difficulty finding the other tendon tear, the lawsuit said. Darcy said he had to widen the incision until a tear was found.
After surgery Hicks’ left leg was still numb, from the first medical team preparing the correct leg, the lawsuit said. But, his right leg was bandaged and painful.
Hicks had complications after the wrong leg surgery and had to have a second surgery to help with nerve injury, the lawsuit said.
“As a result, [Hicks] experiences permanent pain and reduced function,” the lawsuit said.
He then had to have a third surgery in 2025 to fix the tears on his left leg.
Hicks and his wife Lisa Hicks trusted the medical team to care for him, but instead the wrong leg surgery has left him with life changing complications, Brennan said.