surgical malpractice

What is the name of your state? Ohio

In May of 2002, at 31 yrs old, my OB/GYN along with 2 other surgeons that he picked to work with performed several different surgeries(hysterectomy, cystocele repair, rectocele repair, enterocele repair, and a vaginal vault repair) in a 5hr operation. The urologist that he sent me to that was supposed to perform the bladder suspension & uretheral sling did not show she sent her partner that I had never met before, my first meeting with him was the day after my surgery. When I was brought into the OR they realized that I had not signed consent forms for the urologist but the anst. had already started my IV drip & at that point they could not have me sign the form. To this day there is not a signed consent form for him or the original surgeon that sent him in her place.
The operation didnt go well & I ended up in complete bladder retention for 32wks, for 16 of them I had a supra pubic catheter and once they removed that I was taught to self cath. I was put on Flomax for 3 mos. which is a drug used for men & is not FDA approved for the use on a woman. All the manufacturers materials clearly states do not give it to a woman. Its used to treat the prostrate! I finally got so tired of being told that things were going to be ok & come back in a "month", that I went to my PC doc & she sent me for a 2nd opinion. When I went for the 2nd opinion, they did several tests and found that it was truly impossible for me to urinate on my own & I needed to be taken in to surgery for them to repair the damage. When I went in for surgery my bladder was found to be at a 30 degree angle, and my urethra was at a 15 degree angle but so tightly pulled up with the sling that it was almost in a "U" shape, which made it humanly impossible for me to ever have use of my bladder in that position. The sutures were removed, the bladder was dropped back into its normal position but from the damage & lack of being able to use my bladder for that long period of time, I was 100% incontinent. That lasted 8 weeks. Then I went for biofeedback theraphy for 6 wks. which helped some. Finally the decision was made 7 mos. post op. to implant me with the Interstim Theraphy system, and that has actually helped & I am happy with the results that I am getting from it. In all I will have gone through 5 surgeries, the original plus 4 repair surgeries.
My case was just filed in court against the physicians and hospital, what do you think my chances are of getting anywhere with it? especially since there was not a consent form signed and the hospital staff was well aware of that prior to the operation even starting. I think they could have asked my husband to sign on my behalf, or postponed that portion of the surgery. Sorry for the long post but there's been so much activity & repair work.
Thanks for your opinion.

consent is only a small part of the prosess. surgeons can do procedures without consent and as long as there is no damage from the surgery there is no malpractice. in your case there are other issues and you may have a winable case. if you already have a lawyer that filed your case then your on your way. good luck to you

DvG

Your case is in the lap of the gods of justice. I hope you get compensation. Hang in there and trust your lawyer.

Wow girl, you already deprived most of us of our standard response--i.e. you don't have a case-- by stating that your case was just filed. (I'm being facetious.) As to your winning, who knows what the chances are. A lot of it is the luck of the draw in the jury pool. But let me tell you a true story snatched from the appellate decisions in a lack of informed consent and medical malpractice case.

Back when I was in law school, I wrote a paper on Informed consent for a "Law and Medicine" course. My search for case law was narrowed to cases on informed consent involving arteriosclerosis. Of course there were many cases but only two of those cases have withstood the passage of time in staying in my memory. One because of the ludicrousness that a person of science and remotely normal intelligence could think that you could cut the mammary vein and attach either end of that vein to the heart muscle and magically a vein would "sprout new coronary arteries." So absurd! But, yes, the verdict was in favor of the doctor/defendant. My own cardiologist laughed and shook his head in disbelief when I told him about the case and asked him to guess whether the plaintiff/patient or cardiologist/defendant had won the case. He stated that there had NEVER been any scientific research that showed that the procedure would work and so, of course, he was amazed that the doctor had prevailed!

The other case was one of those cases that tears ones guts up because it is so disturbing and the death was so preventable. I wish that I could remember the case style and I would post a link to it but alas I don't recall that information are even the state that it was out of. I do remember that it was a recent decision at the time which would make it early 80's. I do remember the basic facts although the small details have long ago been forgotten .

Here is the condensed version of the case. The husband entered the emergency room accompanied by his wife. He was in his early forties and presented with "crushing chest pain which radiated down his left arm and up into his jaw." (He had shortness of breath, dizziness etc.. (All the classic symptoms of an MI.) He was examined by the ER doctor and given some anti-acid tablets. The husband still complained of discomfort but after an hour the pain had begun to dissipate. The doctor recommended that the patient be released.. No EKG was done. Upon the wife's repeated protest, the doctor finally agreed to admit him into the hospital, over night. He was admitted and placed in a standard hospital room. A few hours later, his wife summoned the nurse because her husband was once again complaining of excruciating chest pain and the nurse found him in bed upon his hands and knees, rocking back and forth "in attempt to assuage the pain." (I remember those exact words.) Again he was given analgesic. No EKG done. Around 5:00 a.m. the patient had another MI. It was only then that an EKG was done which showed extensive damage to the heart. He went into cardiac arrest shortly thereafter and died.

The wife sued the doctor and the hospital on the basis that her husband was not given an EKG upon entering the ER nor was he informed that the EKG test could have detected his heart attack more than seven hours earlier had the test been performed.

Trial was by jury and the jury verdict was in favor of defendant doctor. A Motion For New Trial was made. Denied. She appealed to the Appellate court. The appellate court affirmed the trial court verdict. She appealed up to state Supreme Court. The state Supreme court reversed and rendered judgment in favor of the wife and against the doctor and hospital. The court held that it was negligent as a matter of law not to provide an EKG to patients who present to the ER with the symptoms that the husband presented with. The court reasoned that based upon an EKG being a relatively inexpensive procedure and also being a none evasive procedure when balanced against the serious risks of not providing the test to persons coming into the er with MI symptoms that it is negligent as a matter of law not to provide the test.

[Sidebar: People who think that medical malpractice cases are easily won have never done much research on the subject or they would very quickly learn otherwise! And medical malpractice have only gotten more difficult to win.]

Thank you for your response. Boxcarbill...
You are so very right when you say that malpractice cases are not as cut & dry as one might think. Your burden of proof is that the doctor went outside of the parameters of what is considered reasonable standard medical care ~ those parameters can vary to a great extent and in the majority of cases are based on a matter of opinion. The cases you mentioned are disturbing but not surprising to me from what I have been told by my attorney. He said although I have a "great case" that doesnt mean anything in the court of law if the jury does not side in my favor and malpractice cases are tough stressful cases to deal with. It will ultimately lie in the hands of the jury & how the physicians that are handling all of my repair work say what their opinion is of the original surgeon on how he did his job, whether it just failed for whatever reason or he did what he was supposed to do. If they say he did an ok job they sink my case right then & there. All the expert witness testimony in the world wont help my case if they say something like that, which I highly doubt would happen, but with doctors you never know ~ they ofter band together.
Take care & peace to you.

Thanks for responging JackSchroder...
You are right by saying my case is in the hands of the Gods(Goddess in my case )now, whatever will be will be. I hope in the end I get some sort of compensation for all that I have been through but I am not holding my breath, I have been through enough already to stess over the end result. In the very beginning I was angry and felt I was owed compensation but I have made peace with all of it & if I walk away with nothing monetarily, at least I will have my health restored.
Take care & peace to you.

Thanks for your reply DvG...
Its true my case is filed but unfortunately its by no means a slam dunk. I've been forwarded by my attorney to expect things to be stressful & LONG! We are going up against our areas biggest most well known hospital systems & 3 of their physicians. But I guess that he is willing to fight the case says something. They are very expensive cases to fight and I dont have to pay him anything unless I win, I highly doubt he would put out the money for expert witnesses, medical records, and this whole process if he didnt have a pretty good feeling about it. Malpractice is I think by far one of the most confusing things I have ever had to deal with in my life and I have 5 children
Take care and peace to you.

I am going through a similar ordeal. I am going to have to have more surgeries as well. Not looking forward to it either. I am glad to hear that the implant has helped you. Gives me hope. They are thinking of giving me the implant you speak of. What kind of sling did you have? I mean the manufacture's name. Do you recall? I really wish you the best. I am also shocked to here all the bad stories comming out about hysterectomy procedures. It was supposed to be an easy surgery. (the hyst. and sling). At least that is what the surgeons who did this told me. They were going to loosen my sling, however, the adhesions have to be taken care of first through phsy. thearpy. Mine also is too tight. It took my body 1 year to except the cadaveric mesh from the sling. I had fevers all the time. Anyway, I hope all goes well for you! I read your post and cried all over again. How "some" doctor's can do this to women is outrageous!!! I am glad to be in better hands now. I am glad you are too.
~Summer~

Sorry to hear about your ordeal Summer!
It's amazing how they can make something sound so wonderful & then have it turn out to be such a nightmare. I was told that I was going to feel like a Brand New Woman after the sugery & they even told my husband that he would be so impressed that he would send them flowers! Had they of ever explained to me that any of this stuff could have happened I would have never allowed them to touch me in the first place, I would have went for a 2nd opinion. I was under the impression I would have a 3 hr. operation, in the hosp. 2-3 days, 4-6 wk recovery & then off to this "new womanhood" ~ never did nearly 6 hrs in the OR, 4days in the hosp., months of recovery, then 4 repair surgeries, along with an Interstim System implantation (which I had never heard about before all this) every crossed my mind!
(By the way they used pelvicol for the sling material.)
Mind you I have 5 children(my 2 youngest were 1 & 2 when this all started) and I arranged for live in help for 6 wks to take care of the house & them while I was recovering. After the 6 wks. my husband had to use FMLA and take a leave from work.
No need for me to ramble or whine about my hardships ~ I'm sure you know exactly what I am talking about from firsthand experience yourself. I hope all goes well with you & if you need the Interstim System, from my experience with it I would recommend it. It has improved my ability to control my bladder almost 100%, the only time I have control issues is when I have an infection. It doesnt happen instantly but once you get to the correct setting on the system it's amazing the results you receive ~ or at least in my case it is.
Take care & peace to you.