A second patient claims in a new lawsuit that an Oregon hospital's powerful surgical lights left him with severe burns and lifelong complications following foot surgery last year.

An Oregon man is alleging that surgical lights at Silverton Hospital in Oregon caused a severe third-degree burn on his foot after undergoing toe surgery last year. He is seeking more than $800,000 in damages.

Silverton Hospital did not immediately return requests for comment from Outpatient Surgery.

In January 2015, The Oregonian reports that the hospital released a letter that revealed that as many as 2,100 patients may have been exposed to ultraviolet radiation from unfiltered halogen lamps in 3 operating rooms over a 14-month period.

According to reports, the problem occurred when the facility replaced the halogen lights in operating rooms, but did not replace the filters designed to screen out the UV radiation. The first cases of burned patients came to the hospital's attention in June 2014, reports say, but the problem wasn't identified until November of that year. The letter informing patients who may have been affected went out nearly 3 months later.

In the new lawsuit filed last Thursday, Thomas Heathman says that he underwent toe surgery in May 2014. After surgery, a painful, mysterious wound appeared on the top of his foot that baffled his doctors. It was only after the hospital sent out the letter to patients — 8 months later — that he discovered the wound was a burn caused by the lights, he alleges.

According to the suit, Mr. Heathman's wound is expected to result in lifelong complications, including a higher risk of developing cancer in the area of the burn. He seeks $805,000 in damages.

A woman also claimed in a lawsuit filed in June that she suffered from third-degree burns caused by the lights following knee surgery last year. She is also seeking more than $800,000 in damages.

Kendal Gapinski