A heart surgeon has a very high level of responsibility. Whether he is performing an angioplasty or a bypass surgery or a transplant, your heart surgeon is responsible for life and death. If your heart surgeon makes a mistake, the consequences can be severe and often fatal. As a result, heart surgeons are expected to be highly educated and perform with a high degree of care. If they fail to do so, they can be held liable for any injury they cause.
Heart Surgeons and Medical Malpractice
When a heart surgeon makes a mistake or is negligent, he can be held liable for medical malpractice. This is a type of tort case in which the jury evaluates whether a doctor provided a reasonable standard of care. To determine if the doctor provided a reasonable standard of care, the jury will look at how a reasonable heart surgeon would have behaved.
If a reasonable heart surgeon would have been more careful than your heart surgeon was, your doctor can be considered negligent or in breach of his required duty of care. You will also have to prove that your heart surgeon's negligence or lack of care directly led to your injury. In legal terms, this means proving that the heart surgeons' negligence was the proximate cause of injuries.
Recovering Damages
If a heart surgeon is found to be negligent, there are a number of potential damages available. A victim who is injured by heart surgeon's negligence but who lives through it can sue for:
- Medical bills arising from the care necessitated by the heart surgeon's mistake
- Lost wages from work missed as a result of the injury
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
If the victim passes away as a result of the heart surgeon's negligence, then the estate or family members of the deceased victim can sue for wrongful death and loss of companionship. Wrongful death damages can include the lost wages that the person would have earned over the remainder of his life. Funeral expenses may also be included in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Getting Help
If you have been the victim of negligence on the part of a heart surgeon, it is essential you get the help of an experienced medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible, especially if your injuries are serious. Your attorney can provide you with details about what you must do to prove your case and can help you collect the evidence that you need to recover for your damages in court.
