My husband had a Colonectomy , which was planned and we expected that my husband would be off work for 4-6 weeks. During the pre-surgery prep, my husband asking the nurse to put the IV in his right hand and she told him no because they would be working on that side. The surgeon told me the surgery would be less than 3 hours.
After 6 hours I was able to talk to the Dr and he told me there was a problem and that they had lost control of a tool, called an anvil that they use to staple your intestines back together. The anvil went upstream through the intestine, resulting in a second incision to retrieve the tool and extra hours in surgery.
My husband is in construction and earns his money with his hands. In the recovery room we noticed that my husbands left hand was swollen to more than twice its normal size and with extreme pain. The dr said the move the IV to the right arm in order for the left hand to relax/recover, he said he had never seen anything like it before and blamed it on "his carpel tunnel" which he had only been diagnosed with one month before. We are now in our 5th week of healing and the swelling and pain are gone from the hand but my husband does not have feeling in his left thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger. We are concerned with his ability to work.
Is this a good medical malpractice case?
Answer:
Depending on the financial impact of the medical error, you may or may not have a good medical malpractice case. While it sounds like there is a case for medical negligence, it will depend on the amount of money you can sue for that will determine whether your case is economical.
It's an unfortunate reality that many good medical malpractice cases do not result in enough damages to warrant the expenses of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor or treating hospital.
You should take the time to consult a medical malpractice lawyer to find out what your best legal options are.
Good Luck.
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Posted by Staff Writer on 17 Feb 2010