Are there any lawsuits from bad surgeries?

Do we just grin and bear it when your surgeon or the hospital gives you poor care?
Should we forget the problems, because we are glad to be alive and they have a great bedside manner?

Like leaving you in the waiting room with a burst colon and asking you to quietly wait or perhaps go outside until it's your turn?

Or how about a surgeon who saves your life by giving you a colostomy, but forgets to clear the rectum of the impaction?

I have never been in this position and have no one to ask. Anyone with experience out there?

Believe it or not, a ruptured colon is not an emergency that you should be seen immediately. My husband's colon was ruptured for 2 days... waiting to see if it would seal back over instead of having to have the surgery/colostomy. Not having an impaction cleared is not medical neglect either. One would be hard-pressed to find a lawyer to even consider litigation. I think you should be thankful and not thinking about filing litigation against hospitals or doctors unless you have permanent debilitating outcomes, which do happen in certain cases, but doesn't sound like you fit in that category. That's partly what is wrong with our healthcare system now, so many people out there looking for financial gain when things aren't exactly perfect. Doctors are human, hospitals are run by humans... and none of us are perfect!

She/He does say she/he is not in this position, so it's a little harsh to say stop litigation against a hospital/doctor. IMHO.

I would suggest you talk to a lawyer if you or a friend have had a problem. There were several things that happened to me, and I wish I had talked to someone at the time of my surgery. Don't let anyone dismiss you.

My rectum wasn't cleared when I had my colostomy 6 years ago. I wasn't aware of it, just had infection after infection until after 4 years I became very ill. My GP discovered what was causing the problem. It took a lot of enemas and internals before it was cleared. Now the aftereffect is that I have ulcerative colitis in my rectum, which causes me such a lot of pain and discomfort. Nothing can put that right, but there are times when I feel very bitter about the lack of care that has caused me so much extra trouble.

There were many more complications I thought were too personal to list and don't really matter. After being sent home from the ER with C-4, C-5, and C-6 being crushed from a roof falling on my head, nothing surprises me. I know the difference between "oops, we didn't see that" and "gee, we almost killed you"...he he he. Sometimes, having a large rupture after 1 2/2 weeks of constipation can put you in an extremely grave condition and call all of your relatives and have them come quickly.

I know it will be up to an attorney if there is a case. I was really looking for advice if anyone has gone through this and if it is worth the emotional draining this seems to be causing me. I don't know if I want to go down that road and was hoping for support from someone who has...

I am glad to have this site to bounce things off of, even if they don't always bounce. Hard questions always have hard answers. So fire away... And thanks... really... Faith

After 6 surgeries, 5 intestinnal, wearing a couple of ostomys for a year all due to a botched first surgery. I put together a 5 page synopsis(sp) of the events.
To include detailed instructions I gave to the surgen doing the operations. I told the surgen and had him sign a description of what was to be done. If anything showed up that was unexpected, that part of the proceedure was to be halted and I was to be sowen back together, time given to regain my thinking on how I wanted to proceed. I made it clear to the surgen I was paying him for his operational skills, not his decision making. Altering descisions were to be left up to me. If that ment a second or third operation that was my choosing and my desire. I also wanted the surgen to preform two tests which he declined to do saying they were not needed. One was a barium enima to check for mega-colon. The other simple lower colonoscopy. Although my colon was decease free in the traditional sense. I told the surgen I wanted no surprises. The only test he would do is called a marker test. My problem was I couldn't find any colorectal surgens that had experience with idopathic (sp) constipation. This includes the the VA system and the University (sp) of Washington Hospital, which is world renown.

I sent the information to 6 different attorneys that specialized in medical litigation.
I also tlked to each attorney after they had recieved the information.
All 6 came to the same conclusion, some for different reasons, but the same ending.
All 6 agreed the surgen had "botched " the operation, there word not mine. However they went on to say I would have to prove negligince or malpractice. They said it would be allmost impossible to prove negligence or malpractice because of the latitude the surgen has when the patient is on the table. Although the surgen agreed to certain conditions and did not meet those conditions. All he has to say is what he did was for the benfit of keeping the patient alive. Another big problem is the Surgens seem to circle the wagons in defence of each other.

I so I have to live with it.

What pisses me off is I went into this Like I do everything I do. Eyes wide open and lots of research. Including several testimonials from other patients this surgen had and talking to acouple of different head nurses at the hosptial where operates out of.

Some on this thread have unwisely said I can't spell which is very true. However my lack of spelling has not kept me from making millions. It may be noted Henry Ford could not spell, when confronted with this in court, he simply said I can hire it done! My Spell check does not work on this thread. I simply don't give a damn.

Rick.....

Another big problem is that the surgeons seem to circle the wagons in defense of each other."

They also share information, such as a patient giving them written directions on how to do their job. After that, is it really any wonder why a surgeon wouldn't touch you? As for attorneys, if they specialize in medical litigation (and that's probably why you picked them), they realized that you gave the doctor written directions and that they faced a losing case.

As for the original thread, it is a tough decision to sue a doctor. Every situation is different and accidents do happen. Some people expect too much from surgery, while others will simply not do the required therapy afterwards yet wonder why they haven't had success (my mother is a prime example of this). The other part is what Junopete describes. Wrong a doctor, whether right or wrong, and see how little options you have left in that field of specialty. There is so much litigation that doctors have to carry huge amounts of insurance. Most of the time, it is less costly for the doctor's insurance company to settle than fight it in court, even if the doctor was not wrong. So good doctors end up with "settlements" on their records for no good reason. On the flip side, patients who have been truly neglected have a huge uphill battle. In the middle is the pool of ambulance chasers. So my advice to anyone thinking of litigation is to look at your situation honestly. If you feel you do have a legitimate case, do your research before choosing an attorney.

Perhaps I did not make myself clear or understood in regards to medical litigation.
It comes down to not what is right or wrong, it comes down to is it winnable or not.
And yes, I made it perfectly clear how I wanted the surgeon to proceed if a surprise cropped up. Which is exactly what happened. I had two other surgeons tell me he made the wrong decision when after the first operation. A leak developed which could not be found. The conventional wisdom would have been to seal off the colon, put an ileostomy on while the colon heals. One has to remember my colon was not deceased in the traditional sense, it just stopped working. So in other words, what 2 weeks earlier was a normal colon all of a sudden was thrown out because the leak could not be found. The two surgeons I had go over the surgical notes said the colon may have resealed itself. To not give the colon a chance to heal was "criminal". Neither of these two surgeons wanted to testify in court.

I was also told, I have no idea how true this is. A couple of the attorneys told me to take a medical case to court costs about $200,000 these days.

I stress to all of you. Know what you are getting yourself in for before surgery. I spent months trying to get second and third opinions before going ahead with the surgery. My problem was I could not find surgeons or hospitals that knew how to deal with a colon that simply stopped working due to the peristaltic muscle process stopping.
Many months later, a few of the doctors at the VA thought it may have been caused by Agent Orange from time in Vietnam. I simply do not know.

Don't kid yourself, these surgeons are like any other profession, there are good ones and bad ones. Don't let what happened to me happen to you.

I am still considering taking the thing to court on my nickel. I need to see how the J pouch is going to turn out.

Rick.....

So much pain and anger, and botched bodies. I just want to address this from a spiritual perspective. I believe we have to move in the direction that your still small voice inside you is leading you. It doesn't matter what people say will work or won't work. That is their experience, it doesn't have to be yours, or limit your life and actions. Doctors and lawyers are just people, they don't have the final say. To be honest, I really think most doctors just make educated guesses.

If you have faith and believe, then you are under no laws but God's laws. I pray and ask the Creator of the Universe to put angels in my path...I always encounter the right people at the right time. It isn't always easy...it's mostly a battle with myself to stay in faith and not doubt or be in fear. I just never believe that no is no.

So I recommend pursuing litigation if that is what you want to do. People always have something to say about something.

I pray that all of your bodies and hearts be healed. Peace Love in the Universe.

Keysgirl .... you're so incredibly awesome

I live in Illinois and was told the cost of discovery and litigation would be enormous and since I had a pre-existing illness (scleroderma) - might have led to tissue damage anyway would prove it was not a doctor error but a symptom of my illness.....a malpractice suit would be hard to prove.

I do believe my surgeon did not make the appropriate decisions with regard to my symptoms....I also made a quick fix decision to 'go ahead' with the procedure as I had been very sick for a few years prior to surgery.....I just wanted to feel better...........

On the other hand, another one of my GI's reminded me that a ruptured colon was bound to happen as I had severe damage and ulcers. So I proceeded with a sub-total colectomy that left me septic.....

Oh well money was not gonna be the cure-all as I will always have scleroderma. I have learned to be 'ordinary' and really don't need a fancy life.....just want to have health and happiness