Before the story airs: WRAL Investigates: Raleigh surgeon using homemade device not approved by FDA

For most of us, surgery is a nerve wracking prospect – going under anesthesia and putting your trust, health, and well-being in the hands of someone else. The potential risk of spinal surgery raises the concern even more.

On Thursday, WRAL Investigates a surgery gone wrong for a woman with back problems. Not only did the surgery leave the patient worse off than she was, we found the surgeon took personal liberties with the procedure.

According to his own account, the doctor bought supplies from a home improvement store, bent a surgical rod at his home, then placed that device in the patient’s neck. He even named the technique after himself.

Watch Thursday at 5:30 p.m. It will make you reconsider informed consent.