ST. LOUIS (AP) — A lawsuit filed against a St. Louis-area neurosurgeon claims that he operated on the wrong part of a patient’s brain.

The suit accuses Dr. Gregory Bailey of removing healthy brain tissue instead of a brain tumor during a surgery on 55-year-old Michael Krabbe on Dec. 23.

The lawsuit says Krabbe was unable to speak or move his arm and leg after the procedure. It says Krabbe is now unable to normally speak, eat drink and swallow.

The lawsuit seeks costs and damages from Bailey and his employer, SSM Health.

Messages seeking comment from Bailey were left by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

SSM Health denies the accusations over a wrong-site procedure. It says that it will “vigorously defend our position in the court of law.”