Oyster Bay Town Council Member Vicki Walsh is speaking out about the years of discomfort she has dealt with after alleging she was lured to a doctor’s office by a Groupon deal and was then improperly operated on.
In 2018, Walsh said she went to a vein center on Northern Boulevard in Roslyn called NYC Surgical Associates, which had been run by Dr. David Greuner, for a common procedure called sclerotherapy – a saline injection for spider vein treatment.
She said she went back in 2020 and was recommended a free test called a venogram, a sonogram of the inside of your veins, by Dr. Arno Rotgans, a physician at the firm.
Walsh said she went under anesthesia and woke up to be told that she had a blockage and needed to be emergency stented, which led to an unknown number of stents being inserted into her pelvic region.
Walsh said she had a full physical and heart scan performed months prior at St. Francis Hospital, which showed perfect results.
“I would never get a stent done anywhere but in a hospital, from a surgeon that I knew,” she said. “I went home, not able to move much. I was retaining water and breathing heavy.”
Rotgans died months afterwards and the Roslyn office closed.
Walsh said months later, she found a vascular surgeon from Saint Francis Hospital, and after an emergency room visit and angioplasty, learned the stents had grown into her and could never be removed.
Walsh filed a malpractice lawsuit in 2022 against NYC Surgical Associates and its founders, Greuner and Adam Tonis, alleging the emergency surgery was improperly performed.
She said she hadn’t planned to speak out but had heard that Greuner was attempting to get his licence back.
Greuner has had his medical license suspended in New York, New Jersey and Florida. He was also arrested twice this past summer for stalking his former business partner and has been sued several times in the past for malpractice.
Efforts to solicit comment from Greuner were unavailing.
Walsh said she has had to do things differently to manage the pain.
“I adjust and I adapt,” she said. “I do fewer activities and stand and sit leaningto avoid pain.”
