You Need To Take After Experiencing A Surgery Gone Wrong

Hearing that something went wrong after surgery is the last thing any patient wants to hear. A surgery no matter how minor can be a life-changing experience and should be undertaken with the highest level of care from both the patient and the doctor. An error after surgery doesn’t automatically mean that your doctor has committed medical malpractice so it is better not to jump to that conclusion.

Medical malpractice is the third highest cause of death in the US and has become a growing menace in the profession. Whether this malpractice occurred during diagnosis or treatment, patients must know their rights if they become a victim while receiving treatment.

This article explains the best steps to take after experiencing a surgery gone wrong. These steps will give you the necessary information to enable you to take practical steps for compensation and overall recovery.

Return To The Hospital

If after a surgery you are feeling unwell or anything seems out of place, the first and best step at that point is to head right back to the hospital where the surgery was performed for a quick check-up. If it is discovered that there was a mistake of any sort and something went wrong during the surgery, then it has to be rectified immediately to avoid further damage and harm. Usually, the corrective surgery will be performed by another surgeon rather than the surgeon that initially made the mistake. You may as well request for your surgery to be performed in another medical institution all together to make sure you are getting the best medical health care altogether.

Get It In Writing

After an error has occurred during surgery, the level of trust for that particular medical institution has inevitably dropped. It is then best to get everything discussed in writing; the nature and degree of the mistake that occurred, the options offered, the corrective steps that were taken, etc. This document along with others such as case notes will be very useful for the investigative stage of a medical malpractice claim.

Medical Malpractice Claim

It is relatively easy to determine if a surgical error arises from medical malpractice. Medical malpractice can be caused by negligence, fatigue, improper preparation before the surgery, drugs, and alcohol, etc. You should know the difference between medical malpractice and medical errors as they can often be confusing. Some examples of medical malpractice are administering too much or too little of a medication, leaving a piece of medical equipment inside a patient, making a wrong incision, operating on the wrong part of the body, etc. Once you have established that the error is classified under the pillars of medical malpractice, here are some principal steps to take:

Seek legal counsel from a lawyer/attorney with experience in handling medical malpractice claims.

With the help of your legal representative, you can prove that the negligence of a medical practitioner led to certain injuries that resulted in the damages that you are filing for.

As in all lawsuits, time is of the essence, so be sure to begin the process of a medical malpractice lawsuit within the time frame allowed by the state so as not to exceed the statute of limitation for a medical malpractice case.

Although all surgeries involve a level of risk, a surgical error is not inevitable and therefore can be prevented by adhering to certain medical standards.

Get Compensation

Experiencing a surgery gone wrong can be a very challenging and traumatic experience that can result in serious injuries as well. The best way to get compensation for injuries sustained is through a medical malpractice claim. This way, you will get some monetary support in the form of compensation for the mistake made. The type(s) of damages you file for will determine the amount you can get in compensation. Some of the most common examples of damages in medical malpractice are physical and mental pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment in life, economic damages (loss of future earning capacity).

Risk in surgery is inevitable, however when the risk goes beyond informed consent then it goes beyond the known surgical risk and is not expected. Although not every surgery that goes wrong can be classified as a surgical error, this makes it extremely important to seek legal counsel from an experienced solicitor. Surgical errors can lead to very serious complications, it is first of all principal to seek medical correction of the procedure before taking any further legal steps.