What should I do about me having to have a second surgery because on my first one something was left inside me cause a bowl obstruction?
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What should I do about me having to have a second surgery because on my first one something was left inside me cause a bowl obstruction?
Got shot in stomach after 2 years of
complaint n 2 diff hospitals they found
something wrapping around my intestine
from the first surgery they had to
reopen my stomach n remove.
Asked on August 16, 2018 under Malpractice Law, Alaska
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Medical malpractice is negligence, which 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).
Prior to filing a lawsuit for negligence against the first doctor (surgeon) and first hospital, it may be possible to settle the case with their malpractice insurance carriers.
When you complete your medical treatment and are released by the doctor or are declared by the doctor to be permanent and stationary, which means having reached a point in your treatment where no further improvement is anticipated, obtain your medical bills, medical reports, and documentation of wage loss. Your claim filed with the malpractice insurance carriers of the first surgeon and hospital should include those items. Obtain these items from both hospitals and surgeons.
Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. The medical reports document your medical condition and treatment and are 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 first surgeon and hospital, NO lawsuit is filed.
If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the malpractice insurance carriers, reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence. If the case settles with one but not both parties (surgeon and hospital), only name the party with whom the case has not settled as a defendant in your lawsuit.
If the case is NOT settled, your lawsuit must be filed prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter. Alaska has a two year statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit in a medical malpractice case. The two year period in your case began when the sponge inside you was discovered.
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