Monica Melendez has filed a lawsuit against Amy Lu, M.D., in the Circuit Court for the Sixth Judicial Circuit in Pinellas County, Florida. The case, bearing the number 24-001324-CI, was filed on March 22, 2024. The plaintiff alleges negligence by the defendant resulting in severe medical complications.

Melendez’s counsel states that she underwent a colon resection surgery performed by Dr. Lu at HCA Florida Largo Hospital on November 5, 2021. Despite this procedure intended to remove her colon cancer, a subsequent pathology report found no traces of cancer in the excised tissue. This crucial information was allegedly not communicated to Melendez during multiple post-operative consultations with Dr. Lu.

On May 24, 2022, a colonoscopy revealed that the colon cancer supposed to have been removed during the previous surgery was still present. As a result, Melendez had to undergo another surgery on June 8, 2022, which led to further treatments including port placement and multiple rounds of chemotherapy due to metastasis of her cancer.