Infection from knee replacement
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Infection from knee replacement
My husband had a knee replacement done in which infection was introduced during
the surgery. He went through multiple surgeries 6 to be exact and ended up
having to take his knee out for 10 weeks to fight the infection was on IV
antibiotics for 8 weeks and then just 1 week ago was able to have another knee
put back in. During this time he was unable to work, walk, or function as a 44
year old should have been able to. The original surgery for the knee
replacement was Dec. 1st. we are now going on 7 months of nothing but
pain/suffering/loss of ability/loss of work/income and many financial
struggles. We have 5 children and he missed out on a lot of their activities
because of this. He was also told that he may never fully recover or be able
to walk normal again. He has a lot of work to do to get back to walking again
and unsure if he will fully recover. Do we have a case of Medical Malpractice?
Any advice would be very helpful Thank you
Asked on June 21, 2017 under Malpractice Law, Iowa
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
Medical malpractice is negligence. Negligence is the failure to exercise due care (that degree of care that a reasonable medical practitioner in the community would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances to prevent foreseeable harm).
Negligence on the part of the hospital where the surgery occurred is the failure to exercise due care (that degree of care that a reasonable hospital would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances to prevent foreseeable harm).
Your husband's claim filed with the malpractice insurance carrier for the doctor and with the insurance carrier for the hospital should include his medical bills, medical reports, and documentation of wage loss.
Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document what occurred and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.
If the case is settled with the insurance carriers for the doctor and hospital, NO lawsuit is filed.
If your husband is dissatisfied with settlement offers from the insurance carrier(s), reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the doctor and hospital.
If the case is settled with one but not both parties (doctor and hospital), only name the party with whom the case has NOT settled as a defendant in the lawsuit for negligence.
If the case is NOT settled, your husband's lawsuit must be filed prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or he will lose his rights forever in the matter.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.