Complications following surgery constitute the bulk of medical malpractice claims, and in practice, breakdown into notable categories, including complications due to negligent post-operative care and complications caused by surgical malpractice appearing during post-operative care. As a patient, any damages sustained following surgery may constitute grounds for a medical malpractice claim, if medical negligence is proven to be the proximate cause of the complications, injuries, losses, harm, and other damages. Determining whether post-surgery complications are actually the result of medical negligence, and in turn whether a patient has a viable grounds for a medical malpractice suit, are determined on a case by cases basis, often with the insight of a medical expert and a medical malpractice lawyer.
Common Causes of Post-Surgery Complications Involving Negligence
In short, each case involving patient complications must be examined individually, often in light of state-specific laws governing medical negligence, as well as in light of the applicable standard of care required in a given patient’s case. The following the list outlines some common post-surgery complications, which may constitute grounds for a viable medical malpractice claim, including:
- Surgical mistakes, which actually occur during the surgical procedure, but surface as complications following the surgical procedure itself. These will widely vary based on the nature of the complications and surgery, but often, can be traced back to the original surgical procedure with assistance from a medical expert and others.
- Post-operative care negligence, which can involve failure to following post-operative care instructions, failure to monitor a patient, and numerous other failings causing complications as the result of post-operative care negligence. Typically, liable parties in these cases will be the hospital facility itself, but in practice, the negligent actions are committed by a hospital staff member, such as a nurse, technician, or other individual.
- Hospital acquired infections, which involve a patient incurring complications related to a surgery and post-operative care as the result of unsanitary hospital facilities or employee practices.
In every case, a patient must use legal counsel and medical expert testimony to determine if his or her complications resulted from medical negligence, rather than unpreventable complications stemming from a given medical procedure. Factors taken into consideration when making this determination will include the nature of the surgical procedure itself, the actual patient and patient’s medical history involved, as well as the medical complications and other damages arising.
Getting Legal Help with Post-Surgery Complications
In short, the relative complexity of medical malpractice cases in general, as well as the highly case-specific nature of each patient’s claims, will require the patient to seek legal counsel and representation from a medical malpractice lawyer.
