Malpractice in Knee Joint Replacement Surgery

During knee joint replacement surgery, a damaged joint is removed from your knee through a surgical incision and an artificial joint is placed inside of your knee. Such surgery is appropriate for those who experience pain in their knees that prevents them from functioning adequately on a daily basis. Most people who have knee joint replacement surgery fare well and end up with increased mobility and increased quality of life. Sometimes, however, things can go wrong. When things do go wrong and the surgery ends up leading to more problems instead of acting as a cure, you may wonder whether you can hold your doctor liable for medical malpractice.

Medical Malpractice and Knee Joint Replacement Surgery

While everyone involved- from the patient to the doctor- hopes that knee joint replacement surgery will have a positive affect, sometimes it doesn't. There are a variety of reasons why it won't work- your body could reject the new joint or simply not respond, or your body could otherwise have an averse reaction to the surgery. If the problem is simply a natural and inevitable result of the surgery, your doctor can't be held liable. After all, there are no guarantees. However, your doctor can be held liable if:

• He was negligent
• His negligence directly led to problems such as injury, pain or another undesired outcome as a result of the surgery

To prove negligence, you must compare your doctor's behavior to a hypothetical reasonable doctor. If no reasonable doctor would have acted in the manner that your doctor did, you likely have a strong case to prove negligence. There are a number of ways your doctor may have been negligent in knee joint replacement surgery.

For example, it may be considered negligent if your doctor recommended surgery when there was no chance of it working in your case or when your body was in a weakened state and was thus unlikely to be able to withstand the surgery. If your doctor made some type of mistake in the surgery, from operating on the wrong knee to botching the joint replacement to leaving a surgical instrument inside you, this is also considered negligent in most cases. Usually, you will need an expert witness to testify as to exactly how your doctor's behavior fell short of what was reasonable. 

Getting Help

If you have had a bad outcome as a result of your knee joint replacement surgery, you need to contact a qualified medical malpractice attorney for assistance. Your lawyer can help you to collect evidence and to build a case against the doctor who botched your knee joint replacement surgery and who caused you injury as a result.