Personal Injury Lawyer
As part of any surgical negligence case, a careful medical negligence lawyer should investigate whether the surgery or surgical procedure was necessary. Unnecessary surgeries are not required or performed in the best interest of the patient. This issue has been relevant since at least the 1950s in the United States. This means that some surgeries are completed even when evidence reveals other non-surgical treatments will have better outcomes. It can also mean the surgery is performed before any of the non-surgical alternatives have been exhausted.
While unnecessary surgeries have been a regular issue for many years, it remains challenging to prove medical malpractice when an unnecessary procedure occurs. The Journal of Patient Safety in Surgery published a study that stated, “while medications are subject to extensive testing prior to approval, surgical procedures do not receive the same level of consideration.” Unnecessary surgery claims are fact-specific and evidence has to establish whether the surgeon upheld a standard of reasonable care while performing the procedure. It can be hard to prove negligence because treatment plans are created on a patient-by-patient basis and certain treatments may not work for everyone. The most common unnecessary surgery allegations come from cardiac, gynecologic, and spinal surgery.
Claims of unnecessary surgery fall within the standard categories of negligence which include surgical malpractice and breach of informed consent. Even if damage was not caused by surgical negligence, patients have the opportunity to declare emotional, physical, or financial harm just from enduring the operation itself. If surgical harm does transpire, regardless of it being malpractice or an ordinary complication, the patient can assert the maloccurrence would not have occurred if they had never undergone the operation to begin with.
Before the patient can determine the hospital and surgeon’s liability, they must provide evidence proving the negligence. When brought to court, medical experts are specifically chosen based on the field of surgery performed by both the defense and plaintiff in order to determine if the surgeon’s actions upheld the standard of reasonable care. The experts take into consideration the patient’s medical history and any other pertinent details while investigating their diagnosis, surgical procedures, and treatment plan. For example, a cardiothoracic expert would be selected to share their expertise in a case involving the treatment of heart disease or another relevant condition. These expert witnesses are crucial for unnecessary surgery lawsuits because they can easily validate or oppose damage allegations; if medical experts deem the hospital or medical staff has not administered the standard level of care, they are held culpable by law.
If you or a loved one has suffered from an unnecessary surgical procedure, consult with an experienced medical malpractice attorney, like a medical negligence lawyer in Cleveland, OH from Mishkind Kulwicki Law Co, L.P.A. Cases are determined based on individual factors, so a comprehensive legal review is required. This is the only way for patients to know if they have a viable malpractice case or are eligible for compensation.
