Being prepped and going in for surgery can come with feelings of anxiety and stress. You’ve chosen a qualified doctor and medical facility to handle the process, which helps, because you trust their qualifications and expertise to provide the best care available. However, when this duty of care—the responsibility to not operate in the wrong area or show up to work intoxicated—is broken and a surgical error occurs, it puts your body and your life at risk.
If you have been injured due to a surgical error, we are prepared to bring our over 65 years of experience to help you recover the financial compensation and justice you need to start fresh. You can depend on a Houston surgical error attorney from our legal team at Davis & Davis to fight for the outcome you deserve.
How an Attorney Can Help Surgical Error Victims in Houston
While surgery carries inherent risks, these risks may be amplified significantly when the potential for negligence enters the picture. When you have fallen victim to the blatant recklessness of your trusted medical provider, it’s vital you reach out to a dedicated attorney as soon as possible. When you focus on resting and recovering, our team will begin working on the following:
- Identifying the liable party: For medical malpractice claims, you must be able to prove the liable party owed you a standard of care that was breached. This negligence must have directly resulted in your injuries. To identify the liable party and demonstrate their recklessness, evidence will be collected and assessed. This can include medical records with the intended treatment and the documented outcome.
- Filing all required paperwork: Filing a claim on your own behalf usually means a low settlement from the insurance company and even the possibility of a dismissed case. When you have a Houston surgical error attorney working with you, you don’t have to worry about the required documentation being filed on time and in the correct manner.
- Fighting for economic and non-economic damages: Being a victim of medical malpractice not only comes with potential physical repercussions, but emotional as well. Your attorney will fight for your economic and non-economic losses to adequately cover the cost of your injury and experience.
Having a dedicated Houston surgical error attorney on your side gives you the best possible shot at the outcome you deserve.
Common Types of Surgical Errors
Surgical negligence comes in many forms and may include errors in preoperative care, from unwarranted procedures to perforations of internal organs by a surgical utensil during the procedure. As one of the few Texas firms focused on medical malpractice, we are prepared to work on nearly any surgical error malpractice, including:
- Failure to recognize post-surgical complications
- Bowel injury following abdominal surgery
- Gallbladder surgery errors
- Retained foreign objects
- Paralysis after surgery
- Wrong-site surgery
- Spinal cord injuries in surgery
- Failed cataract surgery
- Gastric bypass surgery malpractice
- Delayed surgery
- Prolonged surgery
Surgery is hard enough as it is, and it entails a degree of risk. Finding out that your surgery was performed in error and now necessitates further treatment is often overwhelming. Our team is here to help you every step of the way to give you the support you deserve.
Understanding Laparoscopic Surgery Errors
Laparoscopic surgery errors are unfortunately common and are serious enough to result in the wrongful death of the patient. For an idea of the most common laparoscopic surgery errors and how a Houston surgical error attorney can prove medical malpractice has occurred, see the following:
Abdominal Surgery and “Complicated Gut”
A complicated gut occurs when the patient has had previous invasive abdominal procedures such as an appendectomy, bladder suspension, or hysterectomy.
Prior abdominal surgery may have left scar tissue, called “adhesions,” which could seriously complicate the new procedure. It is important that doctors take previous procedures into account when they are planning a surgery. If they fail to do so, they may quickly run into serious or even fatal complications that could have been avoided by proper awareness and planning prior to surgery.
Perforated Bowel
Halfway into a gallbladder surgery, your surgeon may encounter adhesions in your abdomen or scarring from a previous appendectomy. Or, even worse, they may cause a small tear at some point in the 40 feet of small bowel during an abdominal procedure, such as bariatric weight loss surgery.
Surgeons are required to “run the bowel,” or examine every part of the intestine, to ensure that there are no tears, holes, or perforations before closing you up. If they fail to run the bowel or fail to detect a perforation, patients are at high risk of developing peritonitis, a serious and possibly fatal post-surgical infection.
A patient suffering a nicked bowel during gallbladder surgery may not be enough to prove medical malpractice. Doctors know this is a risk and are supposed to be on the lookout for symptoms of infection. If they fail to appropriately monitor the patient’s condition and a serious or fatal infection occurs, they can be held accountable for the negligence and the harm that is caused.
Contact Davis & Davis Today for Help
The aftermath of a surgical error can involve life-altering side effects, including the inability to work, the usage of aids to conduct everyday tasks, piles of medical bills, and even the wrongful death of a family member or close friend. Don’t try to navigate your claim alone. Contact a compassionate and competent Houston surgical error lawyer from Davis & Davis today.
We are prepared to bring our experience, legal skills, ethical standards, and aggressive approach to fight for justice and recovery. We strongly encourage you to reach out at your earliest opportunity so we can inform you of your rights and begin building your case. To speak to an actual Houston surgical error attorney, please call (888) 522-9444 or use our contact form. Davis & Davis also accepts referrals from Texas attorneys and law firms nationwide.
