Hospital Defends Doctor After Multiple Malpractice Lawsuits

A hospital is standing by their doctor after he has been hit with at least one major medical malpractice verdict, settled two others, and has more working their way through the courts as we speak. The doctor is a gynecological oncologist who is specifically trained in dealing with robotic surgery. However, many of his patients are claiming that the doctor has caused them severe injury. The doctor denies any wrongdoing and the hospital is aligning itself with the doctor.

Now, when you’re claiming you’re not responsible for one incident of medical malpractice, people will give you the benefit of the doubt. Doctors are well-respected and their motives are seldom questioned. When you’ve injured several patients who are all raising an alarm about the quality of your care, it becomes much more difficult to claim you did not commit wrongdoing. This is especially true when your patients are dying, suffering extreme pain from having their bowels leak into their abdomen, or having urine spill into their abdomen because their ureter was sliced. Worse still, these patients were sent home after being caused severe injury.

Understanding surgical malpractice 

During a deposition, the doctor explained that, “During a complex operation, you occasionally cut something you didn’t mean to.” That is fair. Surgeons accidentally cut the wrong thing all the time. But when they do, they’re expected to repair the injury prior to closing the patient up and sending them home. If they do this, then they cannot be sued for medical malpractice because making a mistake is not the same as medical malpractice.

Surgical malpractice actually requires at least two elements to be present. Making a mistake is not enough to prove surgical malpractice. You also must be able to establish that the injury resulted in further injury. If the issue is repaired during surgery, then medical malpractice does not occur because there is no further injury to the patient and hence, nothing to sue over.

In this case, the damage was not corrected. The doctor’s defiance over the allegations seems to indicate that such mistakes will continue to occur. Because the medical board has not stepped in to review the case, the doctor will continue to see patients. If the doctor does not accept that these mistakes are his responsibility, then the mistakes will continue to go unnoticed and patients will continue to die in agony from sepsis or related conditions.

In a medical malpractice lawsuit, the doctor’s medical care is compared to the prevailing standard of care for the profession. If a doctor makes a cut that perforates an organ, then the doctor is responsible for repairing the organ so that feces doesn’t leak into the bloodstream where it causes sepsis and/or death. If sepsis is even a possibility, then the patient should be held for observation, not sent home.

Talk to an Atlanta Medical Malpractice Attorney Today 

If you’ve been injured by the substandard care of a doctor or health care professional, call the Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers at the Moses Law Firm today to schedule a free consultation and we can begin discussing your options immediately.

Source:

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