Doctor, Hospital Deny Wrongdoing Amid Growing Number Of Malpractice Suits

As a medical malpractice attorney, you cannot simply file a lawsuit every time something goes wrong. Instead, you must compare the doctor’s treatment to the prevailing standard of care for the medical profession. Deviations from the prevailing standard of care are actionable when there is an injury. So deviation from the prevailing standard of care plus an injury equals medical malpractice.

What happens, however, when a doctor is in a high-risk specialty? Ideally, the doctor’s standard of care would be compared to others in that specialty but sometimes, there are very few other doctors operating in the specialty. Does this mean that the doctor can’t get a fair shake? Well, the jury process is imperfect and the arguments made in medical malpractice lawsuits are complicated. Yet one Georgia hospital is facing multiple malpractice lawsuits filed against the same surgeon who is a specialist in gynecologic oncology. To make matters more complex, he is one of the few surgeons authorized to use laparoscopic techniques (or the use of robotic arms in surgery).

So, does a high-risk practice leave you more likely to face medical malpractice lawsuits? Or is it a matter of the quality of care really being substandard?

Allegations

 The allegations appear not to be related to any specialized practice, but common mistakes any doctor should never make. These include nicking bladders and intestines causing bodily sewage to leak into the bloodstream. The doctor is accused of sending patients home with severe injuries that should have been repaired before the patient was closed up. In other words, comparing this doctor’s conduct to any standard of care would produce a finding of negligence. This appears to explain why both doctor and hospital have lost the majority of these cases.

Case study

 A woman saw the defendant because she was afraid of having a third miscarriage. The doctor sutured her cervix to prevent the baby from falling out. However, the next day, she was in excruciating pain. An ambulance was called and an EMT pressed down on her belly. Her baby fell out. It turns out that the doctor had severed her ureter during the surgery and her abdomen filled with urine resulting in a miscarriage. The doctor denied responsibility.

While the hospital could revoke the surgical rights of the doctor, it would be tantamount to admitting liability. Until the case moves forward with allegations and evidence, the hospital is likely to mount a combined defense with their doctor.

The doctor believes he should be immune from liability due to the complexity of the surgeries he performs. However, even routine procedures are causing serious injury to patients and there is no “complex surgery immunity” under the law. While surgical mistakes happen all the time, the doctor is required to identify and fix the problem before the patient is closed up. Otherwise, you end up with septic patients.

Talk to an Atlanta, GA Medical Malpractice Attorney

 Injured by a negligent doctor? Call the Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers at the Moses Law Firm today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can help.

Source:

fox5atlanta.com/news/hospital-stands-behind-star-surgeon-despite-malpractice-lawsuits