Hypertrophic Scar - Had Surgery and It Came Back

[Liebz]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FL

My child had surgery on his earlobe due to a hypertrophic scar that got bigger. Since we have no insurance, I had to pay the surgery out of pocket. So the surgeon removed the keloid and told me that he injected steroids on the keloid so it won't come back again. A few months later, I noticed that the scar started to raise again so I took my son back to the surgeon and his exact words were, "Oh I didn't tell you what to do after the surgery?" No, he didn't. So anyway, he referred me to a different surgeon and again, I have to pay out of pocket for the surgery. The new surgeon said that the scar will always be there but could've been prevented from growing by means of pressure earring (the other surgeon didn't tell me this). The surgery is so expensive and I don't have a lot of money. The new surgeon won't charge me as much but the hospital bills are pretty expensive. I'm not sure if this is considered as malpractice...I don't want to sue for malpractice, just the expenses for the surgery.

Do I have a good case?

~thanks

 

[justalayman]

no. There is no guarantee it will not return in the same fashion as it was. It is the patient that causes it to become hypertophic. It is how their body heals.


I'm wondering, if it is so expensive, why are you doing this? I guess what I am trying to say; is this scar so bad that it really presents a problem? what caused the original scar?

 

[Liebz]

no. There is no guarantee it will not return in the same fashion as it was. It is the patient that causes it to become hypertophic. It is how their body heals.


I'm wondering, if it is so expensive, why are you doing this? I guess what I am trying to say; is this scar so bad that it really presents a problem? what caused the original scar?

I understand that it will not go away but it could've prevented the extra tissue from growing - with steroid injections or with pressure earring. When we went back to the doc's office and told him it came back, he was actually very surprised that he didn't tell me what to do or how to care for the scar the very last time we saw him after the stitches were removed.

I'm thinking inadequate follow-up care.

I'm doing this because it's for my child. The scar is right on his earlobe and he's being teased at school and some kids go as far as flick it when he walks by. And he's been complaining to me that sometimes it hurts and its very uncomfortable for him to sleep on the side where he has the keloid.

It was from a dog bite. We found a stray dog (it wasn't really stray, it had an owner but no collar). It seemed really friendly so I thought we'll take it to ASPCA the next day. I asked my son to put some food in a little bowl for the dog and when he bent down to put the food on the floor, the dog nipped his earlobe. Anyway, I found out who the owner of the dog was and when I told him that his dog bit my son, the owner just disappeared - phone number changed and moved away.

 

[justalayman]

And he's been complaining to me that sometimes it hurts and its very uncomfortable for him to sleep on the side where he has the keloid.

is it keloids or a hypertrophic scar? They are different things.

beyond that, he recently had surgery. It's going to be sensitive for quite awhile, especially with kids flicking it. Heck, I've had surgical scars that were sensitive for a couple years.

It was from a dog bite. We found a stray dog (it wasn't really stray, it had an owner but no collar). It seemed really friendly so I thought we'll take it to ASPCA the next day. I asked my son to put some food in a little bowl for the dog and when he bent down to put the food on the floor, the dog nipped his earlobe. Anyway, I found out who the owner of the dog was and when I told him that his dog bit my son, the owner just disappeared - phone number changed and moved away.

you were thinking the owner would be liable for the injury? You took the dog home. The owner isn't going to be liable for the damages when a person put themselves in a position such as that.


anyway, while the treatments you suggest are known to help, they by no means ensure the hypertrophic scar or keloids will not return. In fact, since he did inject steroids already, I would suggest he may just have to live with the scar. If nothing else, since it appears that it was not that long ago and the enlargement is recently noticeable, I would ask the doctor about treating it now to see if it helps.

I'm wondering why this is being done in a hospital. This sounds like clinic /office work. Heck, I've seen much more entailed surgeries (although they like to call them "procedures") done in the office.

Oh, and one more bit, which is really about the most important bit:

it is typically extremely expensive to mount a medical malpractice suit. You would probably pay more for an expert witness than the surgery and there is no guarantee of winning. If you want to check it out, go ahead and speak with a med mal attorney. I suspect they won't be too interested in taking on the case.