Celebs Who Had Medical Mishaps

Medical malpractice is, unfortunately, quite common. Per Maloney Law Group, the John Hopkins University School of Medicine conducted a study on the phenomenon and found that medical malpractice led to the deaths of between 250,000 and 440,000 Americans annually.

For his part, Travis Barker has claimed to have fallen victim to a medical error, and even filed a lawsuit in his own defense in 2018. According to court docs obtained by TMZ, the drummer sued the hospital that treated him for blood clots, alleging that a doctor had used a dirty needle while sedating him prior to an MRI, which resulted in a staph infection. Barker was then unable to play with his band, Blink-182, for several shows, leading to the cancellation some shows entirely that fall and delaying the start of Blink’s residency in Las Vegas.

Though Barker hasn’t updated fans on the status of his lawsuit since, in the summer of 2022, he did have another serious health scare following a routine endoscopy, which resulted in severe abdominal pain and a hospitalization. Per NBC 4, Barker later shared on his Instagram story, “During the endoscopy, I had a very small polyp removed right in a very sensitive area, usually handled by specialists, which unfortunately damaged a critical pancreatic drainage tube. This resulted in severe life threatening pancreatitis.” Thankfully, Barker’s condition improved, and he was able to return home a few days later.