Plaintiff’s Children Sue After Surgeon Perforates Bowel Causing Death
The estate of a former patient won a $3 million medical malpractice verdict against a highly-respected oncologist who removed a mass from her pelvis. The estate claimed that the surgeon perforated the woman’s bowel which resulted in infection, sepsis, and death. The same doctor has four other complaints against him alleging very much the same thing. However, the hospital claims that the doctor is among the most highly-respected in the area and one of the few who can perform high-risk surgeries.
That is a problem for plaintiffs. For years, medical malpractice lawyers would not target institutions such as Johns Hopkins due to fear that their claims would be denied simply on the strength of the institution’s reputation. Nowadays, that isn’t as much of a problem. Johns Hopkins routinely loses lawsuits, in some cases, having record awards posted against them based on muddy evidence.
In this case, the same doctor is facing four total lawsuits and lost this one to the tune of $3 million. The allegations made by plaintiffs are very much the same. They accuse the doctor of perforating their bowel during surgery and then failing to repair the damage prior to closing the patient up. The hospital only claims that they do not have sufficient information to express an opinion on the veracity of the allegations against their doctor, but believe that he met or exceeded the prevailing standard of care.
There are two open medical malpractice cases against the doctor.
Medical malpractice cases
A woman went to the hospital for an operation that included a robot arm. After she was discharged, she began experiencing unbearable pain and bleeding heavily. The woman went to a different hospital where the doctor said she had suffered a miscarriage. After the miscarriage, the woman continued to have severe abdominal pain and now she also had a temperature of 103 degrees and a large amount of fluid in her abdomen. A scan showed a perforation in her left ureter during the original surgery.
In another case, a woman suffered severe sepsis after a surgery. When a subsequent doctor performed an exploratory surgery to determine what the problem was, feces poured out of her colon. While the original doctors claimed they had pressure-tested the colon, the fact that the patient was backed up that badly indicates otherwise.
Most of the lawsuits against the doctors were settled confidentially. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say that the victims still have ongoing emotional and medical concerns for which they are being treated. The doctor continues to practice medicine at his hospital.
Talk to a Roanoke, VA Medical Malpractice Attorney
If you have suffered a serious injury due to the negligent practice of medicine, call the Virginia medical malpractice attorneys at MichieHamlett today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can help.
Resource:
gainesvilletimes.com/news/health-care/after-3-million-medical-malpractice-verdict-more-complaints-open-against-nghs-doctor/