Recently, an apparent victim of medical malpractice commenced a lawsuit against her surgeon. The woman claims that her doctor performed two surgeries unnecessarily, which caused her permanent injury and harm. The surgeries were intended to correct pain in her foot that resulted from an accident that occurred while the woman was at work. Doctor negligence and medical malpractice is a common occurrence in Pennsylvania and the rest of the nation, and it can result from a wide variety of circumstances.
In the instant case, the woman was hurt on the job in Dec. 2011 after her foot was run over by a bread rack. The following month, she went to the hospital to see if doctors could resolve the pain she was experiencing. Surgery was recommended. However, the first surgery - according to the surgeon - was a failure because her pain continued.
The doctor recommended a second surgery, but the pain persisted. According to the woman's legal complaint, both surgeries were completely unnecessary and now she is suffering from permanent pain and injury as a result of them. The woman's complaint was filed jointly with her husband. They are asking for compensation for lost wages, pain and suffering, medical expenses and emotional distress. They have also asked for compensation for loss of consortium, attorneys' fees, punitive damages and other financial losses commonly associated with cases of medical malpractice.
The question of whether medical malpractice has occurred is often a debatable one. Doctors and surgeons have differing opinions about how certain cases should be handled. Just because one doctor handles a situation differently than another does not mean that one of them was wrong or committed malpractice. Nevertheless, if a Pennsylvania doctor was negligent in his or her application of standard medical procedures, and/or if that doctor purposefully recommended a surgery that was not necessary, then injured individuals have the right to seek restitution under the law.
Source: The West Virginia Record, Logan hospital, doctor named in malpractice suit, Melody Dareing, Feb. 12, 2014