May 4, 2021 | 9:08pm ET
Paul Phillips, guitarist for Puddle of Mudd during the height of the rock band’s success, has filed a lawsuit against a hospital and several of its doctors, claiming he has been left with brain damage due to medical malpractice.
TMZ reports that Phillips has sued Florida’s Baptist Medical Center of the Beaches and the doctors who treated him after experiencing a brain injury and a seizure condition following his visit to the hospital in November 2019. The musician had entered the hospital to be treated for an altered mental status and a possible seizure.
Tests apparently showed that Phillips had low sodium levels. The guitarist alleges that he wasn’t properly monitored and that his sodium levels rose too quickly during treatment. He was rushed back to the hospital three days later after suffering a seizure, during which time an MRI showed brain damage.
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The guitarist’s lawsuit attests that it was the initial treatment that led to a steady stream seizures and neurological issues that still plague him, effectively hindering him from making a living as a musician. He is suing for the hospital and doctors for damages.
Phillips was Puddle of Mudd’s guitarist for their two most successful albums, 2001’s Come Clean and 2003’s Life on Display, appearing on such chart-topping hits as “Blurry”, “She Hates Me”, “Away From Me”, and more. He was introduced to frontman Wes Scantlin by Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, who signed Puddle of Mudd to his Flawless Records imprint.
Phillips left Puddle of Mudd in 2005 due to creative differences, but returned in 2009, appearing on two more albums, before quitting again in 2011.