I've heard of it. There are surgeons who specialize in revision surgery. I've met several individuals who have had fusion surgeries without being imaged for osteoporosis. There are medications that can fortify your bones before surgery. Sometimes the bones are so porous that they can't hold the screws or the hardware. This may be true of your lumbar vertebrae. I suspect it would have been evident to the original surgeon if he'd ordered an MRI (or did he just not tell you) that your L-4 was crumbling and putting pressure on the spinal cord. It isn't that easy when you are in pain to insist on imaging, but that is when we need to insist regardless of what it ends up proving.
I'm really sorry that you've had this experience and happy that you've found a second and don't have to live with the painful mistake.