Patient-1

Horrific, botched surgery by Dr. Michael Bradford at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Nerve block was not given, overdosed on Fentanyl and Narcan during surgery, ongoing pain and suffering, lack of care, and permanent damage and disability.

Dr. Bradford disappeared after surgery and refused to communicate with the patient or other medical providers. Dr. Bradford intentionally obstructed the patient's ability to get medical care at a different orthopedic office by refusing to sign a referral.

They killed her during surgery by overdosing her on Fentanyl. Then they gave her multiple doses of Narcan to try to get her to recover. She died, and they were ready to call Time of Death. Only by a miracle, she came back to life.

Nobody in the operating room or in Sunrise Hospital administration informed the patient or her family, and none of the people who were negligent and culpable in this nightmare have taken responsibility or accountability.

The patient is alive today but has not been allowed to see a competent orthopedic surgeon.

This is a first-person account by Patient-1. She is sharing her personal story (based on the facts and her personal opinion regarding the damage that was done and the ongoing serious complications) in order to protect others from going through a similar experience with Dr. Michael Bradford (who is with Nevada Orthopedic & Spine Center) at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas.

I had a hip replacement surgery by Dr. Michael S. Bradford on June 17, 2025.

Dr. Bradford disappeared after the surgery and abandoned me. Sunrise Hospital and HCA Healthcare went silent and stopped communicating with me when I left the hospital --- except to tell me that Dr. Bradford was NOT an employee of the hospital.

Immediately following the surgery, I suffered excruciating pain, improper post-operative care, delayed diagnosis of infection and a complete lack of communication from the surgeon. I was promised a nerve block that was not administered, discharged without antibiotics, and suffered worsening symptoms while multiple attempts to reach Dr. Bradford went ignored --- for me and my other healthcare providers. 

It has been 16 weeks since the surgery, and I am still in horrible pain and suffering, have very limited mobility, still using a walker, and my quality of life has been severely diminished.

Recently, my primary care office ordered an X-Ray and an MRI which shows serious problems that need to be addressed by a competent, experienced, highly respected orthopedic surgeon.

My story is a tale of numerous mistakes, medical malpractice, infections, torture, lies, arrogance, greed, deceit, abandonment, criminal neglect of a patient under NRS 200.495, violation of NRS 629.051 and 629.061 Retention and Inspection of records, reckless disregard of a person resulting in substantial bodily harm, fraudulent billing, and a long-term, ingrained corporate strategy of denial and coverup.

This is not just about a surgery gone wrong. This is about a doctor who should have never been allowed to operate in the first place. Dr. Bradford disappeared after the surgery and abandoned me. He has refused to explain what happened. When a doctor walks away from a patient with no explanation and refuses to communicate with the patient or their medical team, this is not just bad practice –- it is dangerous and unacceptable. 

I was not given a nerve block even though it was discussed and confirmed by every member of the surgical team including the surgeon, anesthesiologist and operating room nurses. It was obvious that I had not received a nerve block because I was in horrific pain and my hip area was not numb. The hospital employees said they checked my chart and told us that a nerve block was NOT used so I would “be able to get up and move sooner.” Can you imagine having a joint replacement surgery without a nerve block? It was pure torture and inflicted great bodily harm.

The surgeon (Dr. Michael Bradford), Dr. Sahar Nadeem (a recent, inexperienced medical school graduate who pretended to be an anesthesiologist during the surgery, the attending physician (Dr. Alexander F. Akhavan) and surgical team are culpable and have worked in concert with Sunrise Hospital and HCA Healthcare to cover up this horrific deed. They even made my medical records disappear. When I requested my records, they responded with “Patient Not Found.” 

• When you check the reviews for the attending physician, Dr. Alexander F. Akhavan, you will see that his ratings and reviews are almost as bad as Dr. Michael Bradford. Dr. Akhavan has an average of only 2.3 stars on Healthgrades, and he does not even have a page Yelp.
• And the anesthesiologist, Sahar Nadeem, recently graduated from Touro University medical school as a D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic medicine). She has no education, training or credentials to be an anesthesiologist. This is another warning sign --- Sunrise Hospital and Dr. Bradford used an inexperienced medical school student (recent graduate) to serve as the  anesthesiologist during a surgery. How often does Sunrise Hospital allow inexperienced, unqualified people to participate in surgeries?

Even though Sunrise Hospital says there are no records in my name, their billing department sent me an itemized statement for $253,000 for two days in the hospital.

• When I first asked for my records, Sunrise Hospital said PATIENT NOT FOUND. After a few months, I finally received my medical records from Sunrise Hospital. It was 245 pages. Did they give me a complete set of records? Not likely.
• Read about the story of Patient-240, a 13-year-old child who went to Sunrise Hospital for minor surgery and ended up in a coma with extensive brain damage. It took more than a year for the patient's attorneys to get the complete set of records from Sunrise Hospital (more than 3,000 pages). Sunrise Hospital never provided an explanation about what caused the child's brain damage.

To sum it up in a few key points, the failures of Dr. Bradford, Sunrise Hospital, Nevada Orthopedic, and HCA Healthcare include, but are not limited to:

• Omission of a nerve block without consent or explanation. It was obvious that I had not received a nerve block because I was in horrific pain and my hip area was not numb. The hospital employees said they checked my chart and told us that a nerve block was NOT used so I would “be able to get up and move sooner.”
• Catheter left inactive overnight, causing significant urine retention, putting my bladder at risk. 
• Multiple IV sites ignored, damaged and/or left untreated.
• Discharged in an unfit condition, without antibiotics or wound care supplies. 
• Two confirmed infections at the surgical site, which were not addressed by Dr. Bradford. 
• Repeated refusal by Dr. Bradford to provide ongoing care or to communicate with me or my other medical providers.
• Unhygienic wound care by Dr. Bradford’s nurse (Jessica Russian). She did not wear gloves when tending to my infected wound, and she was trying to pressure me into premature removal of staples at only 10 days post-op.
• Coercive office policies that prevent family members from being present during appointments which forces patients to go into the exam room without support or witnesses.

I am deeply concerned about the ongoing harm and risk to other patients. It is terrifying to know that Dr. Bradford is still doing surgery. He should NOT be allowed to do surgery or see patients.

12-week delay. Learn about the collusion by Dr. Michael Bradford and Health Plan of Nevada (HPN) and their joint efforts to prevent this patient from seeing a competent orthopedic surgeon and getting proper medical care. Dr. Bradford was refusing to send a referral, and HPN said the patient was only allowed to see Dr. Bradford. HPN intentionally withheld information about the secret "overflow list."(At 3 months post-op, HPN was still trying to force the patient to go back to the surgeon who damaged her hip and leg, and she was NOT allowed to see a competent surgeon).

I have been trying to find an ethical surgeon for more than 6 months, but I have been caught in the typical black hole between doctors, hospitals and insurance companies.

For the first 8 weeks after surgery, my health insurance company kept telling me (forcefully) that I was only allowed to go to Dr. Bradford or Sunrise Hospital.

Then, (after 8 weeks), I reached a different person at my health insurance company. When she heard how bad my situation is, she told me I can see a doctor on the "overflow list." (Nobody else told me about the "overflow list.") She explained it is a special list for situations like mine -- where the surgery goes badly, and the patient needs to see a different surgeon.

In addition to the 8-week delay because the insurance company did not tell me about the "overflow list," Dr. Bradford intentionally obstructed my ability to get medical care (for almost 12 weeks) by refusing to sign a referral --- so I could get medical care at a different orthopedic office. He knew this entire time (for 12 weeks) that he needed to send a referral.

Apparently, these are the rules in the Las Vegas medical community. The surgeon who harmed you retains control over you and your body. He has to sign a referral before you can get medical care from a different surgeon. If he refuses to sign a referral, the other orthopedic offices will not accept you as a patient. That rule MUST be changed. The Nevada legislature needs to pass a law to stop this harmful practice.

• Note to readers: Read the stories of  Patient-32 and Patient-93  to learn more about how the surgeons at Nevada Orthopedic refuse to give their patients referrals to see other surgeons.

I discovered shocking information in my medical records. Dr. Bradford was using Sahar Nadeem --- an inexperienced "med student" --- as the anesthesiologist. She was barely out of medical school and had no education or training as an anesthesiologist, and she definitely should NOT have been involved in complex surgeries (or any surgeries because she is not a surgeon or an anesthesiologist). The records show they killed me during surgery by overdosing me on Fentanyl. Then they gave me multiple doses of Narcan to try to get me to recover from the overdose of Fentanyl. It was too much Narcan, so I died. They were ready to call "time of death." Only by a miracle, I came back to life. (This information about what happened during my surgery is in my medical records from Sunrise Hospital.)

• Do you think Sahar Nadeem will lose her medical license for pretending to be an anesthesiologist during surgery? Not likely because her mother, Hanadi Nadeem, is a Nevada state legislator.

Nobody in the operating room or in Sunrise Hospital administration informed me or my family, and none of those people who were negligent and culpable in this nightmare have taken responsibility or accountability.

I have NOT been allowed to see a competent orthopedic surgeon.

I am still suffering and am afraid that I may never recover from this nightmare.

Please DO NOT let your family or friends go to Sunrise Hospital, Dr. Michael Bradford, or Nevada Orthopedic & Spine Center.

When You Read the Horrifying Story About What Happened to Patient-1, Ask Yourself These Questions

What if this happened to me or one of my loved ones?

• Take action now, so it doesn't happen to you. Read this website and spread the word.
• If you have a botched surgery or serious medical problem caused by a doctor or hospital, learn Who to Call.

Who will help me?

• Your family and friends. The media will not help unless you have filed a lawsuit, and elected officials will tell you to file a complaint with the Nevada Medical Board.
• As we have stated several times on this website, NEVER GO ALONE to see a doctor, and do your research.
• Dr. Bradford's office, Nevada Orthopedic & Spine, does NOT allow anyone to go into the exam rooms with the patient. You are NOT allowed to take your spouse or family with you --- so there are no witnesses to their bad behavior. Remember, you can record the conversation.

How do I choose a good doctor?

• Talk to everyone you know -- family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, etc. When you are looking at online reviews, focus on the negative reviews, because it is estimated that up to 42% of positive reviews are fake.

What can I do to spread the word to prevent this from happening to other people?

• Share this website (https://www.sunrisehospitalvegas.com) with your families and friends, and post it everywhere on social media.

Why haven't I heard about this story in the news?

• The media are afraid and are not allowed to tell these stories. Learn about corporate control of the media.
  

When a hospital tries to avoid liability by claiming the doctor is NOT an employee

In the case of Patient-1 (on this page), Sunrise Hospital quickly clarified after the botched surgery that the surgeon (Dr. Michael Bradford) was NOT an employee of the hospital.

However, similar to the case for Patient-12, Dr. Bradford had staff privileges and held a title at the hospital. He was Chief of Surgery for Sunrise Hospital at the time of Patient-1's surgery on June 17, 2025. He was also head of the committee that overseas infection control. How many other positions does he hold at Sunrise Hospital?

See the section on Hospital Liability and the story about Patient-12 to learn how you can overcome this defense by the hospital.

If you have to go to Sunrise Hospital or Nevada Orthopedic, never go alone.

Patient-1's leg and hip after the horrible surgery

by Dr. Michael Bradford at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada

Patient-1's leg and hip after the horrible surgery

by Dr. Michael Bradford at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada

Update from Patient-1 (as of June 2026 --- one year after the horrific, botched surgery)

Prior to this horrible, botched surgery on June 17, 2025, I was a healthy female with no major health issues, and I had never had an adverse surgical event prior to this disaster with Dr. Michael Bradford at Sunrise Hospital.

As a reminder to readers:

• Dr. Bradford disappeared after the surgery. He never checked on me, refused to see me, refused to answer my calls, refused to provide antibiotics, and refused to answers calls from any of my other medical providers.
• They killed me during surgery (using an untrained, uneducated physician in the role of anesthesiologist who was a recent graduate of medical school and had no education or training in the field of anesthesiology). They overdosed me with Fentanyl and Narcan and were ready to call TIME OF DEATH, but I miraculously saved myself and came back to life.
• The parties involved have worked together to hide and coverup what they did.
• A few days after surgery, I received a letter from Sunrise Hospital staying that Dr. Bradford was NOT an employee of this hospital. (This is an approach that hospitals use to deny accountability and responsibility.) Reminder: Dr. Bradford was Chief of Surgery at that time and had held that position for several years. Shortly after my surgery, Sunrise Hospital removed Dr. Bradford from that position.
• Shortly after that, I received a letter from an attorney representing Sunrise Hospital who said he had been hired to handle the medical malpractice case. What case? I was in serious condition, fighting to survive, and a lawsuit had NOT been filed.
• Why did Sunrise Hospital act so quickly and aggressively after my botched surgery? Because they knew they had harmed me and were trying to hide from their liability. Learn more about Hospital Liability.

After several months of fighting with Health Plan of Nevada and other parties involved, I was finally allowed to see a competent, intelligent, skilled orthopedic surgeon (of course, my new surgeon is NOT connected with Nevada Orthopedic).

This amazing surgeon has spent a lot of time evaluating my situation, using his skills and expertise, and through the use of diagnostic testing (MRIs, CT scans, ultrasound, etc.).

The end result confirms what I already knew ----

I was severely and permanently damaged and disabled by Dr. Michael Bradford.

After receiving those results, I sent a letter to the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners on April 24, 2026, which lays out the detailed findings and opinions of this competent surgeon. The letter also includes details about the efforts by Health Plan of Nevada and others who intentionally and deliberately prevented me from getting proper medical care. This information has been added to my complaint against Dr. Michael Bradford.

If you would like to read the letter to the Board, please contact us through this website.

Please share this information with your friends, families, neighbors, colleagues, out-of-town visitors, etc. in order to prevent them from enduring the same permanent pain and suffering. Remember there are numerous patient stories of harm, mistreatment and death by Dr. Michael Bradford posted on this website.

Here are a few of the highlights:

• Beware!! Health Plan of Nevada (HPN) gives their policyholders only one choice for orthopedic care --- Nevada Orthopedic & Spine Center. This is known as "forced choice" or "closed choice."
• Over a period of several months that included numerous phone calls and letters from me, HPN kept telling me that I was only allowed to go back to Dr. Bradford --- the surgeon who harmed me. I kept pushing to see a competent surgeon and documented everything.
• My new surgeon included this statement in his report, "Patient has been unable to access alternative orthopedic care due to insurance restrictions limiting her to a single provider group."
• My letter to the Board discusses the negative impact of three other doctors who have been involved (Dr. Adam Eudy, Dr. Alexander Akhavan, and Dr. Sahar Nadeem).

Specific details describing some of the damage that was done:

• Dr. Bradford used an acetabular screw that is too long, and it is "protruding beyond the inner cortical margin of the right ilium."
• The long acetabular screw is "bicortical, protruding into the pelvis" and "potentially in proximity to the pelvic organs."
• Dr. Bradford used the wrong implant. Instead of using the correct implant that is typically used with an original hip replacement, he used a very long implant that is used during hip revisions. (This problem is noted in stories of other patients who have been harmed by Dr. Bradford.)
• In addition to the seriousness of the long acetabular screw, the new surgeon says "functional impact is severe."
• There is visible and palpable tissue depression or void at the surgical site.
• The surgeon describes the numbness in my leg and hip as "lateral femoral cutaneous nerve injury causing meralgia paresthetica."
• The surgeon's report says, the patient "has a chronic orthopedic condition (including severe pain and disability after total hip replacement) that severely limits and poses threat to bodily function.
• The report also states "these complications may result in loss of life."

Please help save lives and spare others from this same fate. Share this information with everyone.

Timeline (partial timeline of events)

An extensive, detailed timeline was prepared by Patient-1. The timeline is 14 pages, so we will provide a few key highlights.

As you read this, you will begin to understand why you should never go alone to Sunrise Hospital. You must have a family member or friend with you at all times.

Day 1: day before surgery (Monday)

Received a voice mail telling me to arrive at the hospital at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Day 2: day of surgery (Tuesday)

After going through the intense security process and checking in at four different desks, I was told to go home because my surgery would not begin until 3:30 p.m. I explained that I had been told to arrive at 10:30 a.m. The employee went into the next hallway and came back and told me I could wait in the Surgery Waiting Area, but it would be several hours before surgery started. Since I had been told to arrive at 10:30, and I had already gone through the long check-in process, I decided to wait in that area.

Day 2, day of surgery at 2:35 p.m. (Tuesday)

After several hours of waiting and having multiple conversations with everyone involved, they finally took me to the operating room.

After the surgery was completed, they did not follow the usual protocol. The doctor never talked to my family, and the staff never allowed my family to see me in the Recovery Area.

Day 2, day of surgery at 6:30 p.m. (Tuesday)

I arrived in the patient room, screaming in pain. My family tried to find ways to comfort me as they looked on in horror.

I knew immediately they had not used a nerve block because my hip area was not numb, and I should not have been screaming in pain.

Day 3, the day after surgery (Wednesday)

Around 7:00 a.m. (almost 12 hours after surgery), the nurse discovered the catheter was not "turned on," so my body had been retaining urine all night (700 ml of urine). Now, 10 weeks later, my bladder is still damaged and is causing problems.

8:12 a.m. The hospital was starting the process of discharging me -- only 12 hours after surgery, with a catheter, and with uncontrolled pain. (This sounds similar to the stories of Patient-3 and Patient-11 who were discharged in an unsafe condition.)

My family tried to discuss their concerns about this unsafe discharge with the nursing staff, but they ignored the concerns. So, my family contacted executives with Sunrise Hospital. Ultimately, the hospital executives said I would not be discharged that day because I did not "meet the criteria for discharge."

Can you imagine what would have happened if my family had not protected me? Once again, never go alone to Sunrise Hospital.

The IV site blew out, and my arm was extremely swollen -- with the hospital ID bands cutting into my arm. Over the next 24 hours, they tried 3 more IVs. All 3 of them failed.

Day 4, 2 days after surgery (Thursday)

They worked on the discharge process all day. I was eventually discharged around 2:30 p.m. I was released with several medications, but I was not given antibiotics or wound care supplies.

There are a lot of additional details, mistakes, and multiple attempts by my other medical providers to reach Dr. Bradford (with no success). He abandoned me and refused to sign a referral for almost 12 weeks, which caused me to be unable to obtain medical care from an ethical orthopedic surgeon.

• See my comments in column 1 on this page (highlighted in red) regarding the "rule" in Las Vegas about referrals by surgeons.

I am suffering, in horrible pain, barely able to function, have limited mobility, still using a walker, and my quality of life has been severely diminished.

Read the information on this website and make informed decisions about whether you should go to Sunrise Hospital.

If you have to go to Sunrise Hospital, never go alone.

List of People Involved in this Case

This is a list naming some of the people involved in this situation and who are participating in the coverup.

Sam Hazen, CEO of HCA Healthcare

sam.hazen@hcahealthcare.com

Todd Sklamberg, CEO of Sunrise Hospital

todd.sklamberg@hcahealthcare.com

Sherrie Somers, Chief Medical Officer at Sunrise Hospital

sherrie.somers@hcahealthcare.com

Pamela Weber, Vice President at Sunrise Hospital

pamela.weber@hcahealthcare.com

Harlow Sumerford, Media Relations at HCA Healthcare

Harlow.Sumerford@HCAHealthcare.com

Phone: 615-344-1851

Halle Ellyce Resch, Director of Ethics and Compliance at Sunrise Hospital

halle.resch@hcahealthcare.com

702-961-9010

Dr. Michael S. Bradford

Orthopedic Surgeon and he was Chief of Surgery at Sunrise Hospital in June 2025 when he harmed Patient-1 during surgery

Dr. Alexander Akhavan

Attending Physician at Sunrise Hospital

Sahar Nadeem, D.O.

Recent graduate of medical school (pretending to be an anesthesiologist with no education or training in that field)

Operating room team

Recovery room team

Surgery waiting room employees

Floor nurses on the 3rd floor

Doctors and staff at Nevada Orthopedic & Spine

Jessica Russian, nurse at Dr. Michael Bradford's office

The following nurses who are included on my medical records from Sunrise Hospital:

• Landingin, Lerryfhel
• Estrada, Micaela
• Yu, Matthew
• Damico, Rhiannon
• Derasmo, Rachelle
• Edwards, Tina (CNA)
• Tran, Tristan
• Moreno, Yolanda (CNA)

And everyone included on the WhoToCall page of this website and everyone else who was directly involved or is aware of what happened and  is participating in the coverup and refusing to speak up and tell the truth.