DEATH from LIPOSUCTION!

What is the name of your state? FLORIDA

My 61 year old Father-in-Law had extensive liposuction as recommended by his physician. Less than a week after the liposuction was done he was rushed to the hospital after falling to the floor and becoming unresponsive. He was taken to the ER and then to the ICU where doctors discovered an infection that was spreading throughout his entire body. He died at the hospital 6 days after the liposuction was performed. The preliminary autopsy found that an "unnecessary "hole" was found in his back and the doctors said it was directly caused by the plastic surgeon.
Other information: My father-in-law was a diabetic (he was not on insulin)
He did not have health insurance or life insurance. He leaves behind a wife with Parkinson's Disease, and two teenagers (and my husband).
Any thoughts on how we should proceed?
Thanks in advance!

Lipo is an elective procedure.
Diabetics have a greater risk of infection.
Death is a potential risk of this elective procedure.
Did he elect to have the Lipo and then recover in an acredited care facility where he would be monitored or did he chose to go home to save money?
Was the surgeon certified to perfom this procedure?
How much was removed during the procedure?
Did he go for his follow up?
Where was the surgery performed?
What was his general health?
Why was this reccommended?
No one here can determine if there was malpractice nor is the doctor responsible for your FIL's failure to have insurance.
This can be taken to a medmal attorney and the medical history reviewed, but be prepared to answer these same and other questions.
The disabled spouse and the surviving minor children are entitled to Social Security survivors benifits.

Did he elect to have the Lipo and then recover in an acredited care facility where he would be monitored or did he chose to go home to save money? HE WENT HOME
Was the surgeon certified to perfom this procedure? YES
How much was removed during the procedure? HE HAD FOUR AREAS AROUND HIS ABDOMEN AND CHEST REMOVED Did he go for his follow up? HIS FOLLOW-UP WAS THE SAME DAY HE FELL DOWN AND WAS RUSHED TO ER
Where was the surgery performed? IN A HOSPITAL
What was his general health? HIS HEART WAS HEALTHY HIS DIET WAS NOT
Why was this reccommended? DR SAID IT WOULD PROLONG HIS LIFE AND HELP WITH THE DIABETES

Haley3257 said:

Did he elect to have the Lipo and then recover in an acredited care facility where he would be monitored or did he chose to go home to save money? HE WENT HOME
Was the surgeon certified to perfom this procedure? YES
How much was removed during the procedure? HE HAD FOUR AREAS AROUND HIS ABDOMEN AND CHEST REMOVED Did he go for his follow up? HIS FOLLOW-UP WAS THE SAME DAY HE FELL DOWN AND WAS RUSHED TO ER
Where was the surgery performed? IN A HOSPITAL
What was his general health? HIS HEART WAS HEALTHY HIS DIET WAS NOT
Why was this reccommended? DR SAID IT WOULD PROLONG HIS LIFE AND HELP WITH THE DIABETES

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Your answers in BOLD will affect any potential lawsuit in a negative fashion. If anything, there might be something re the doctor that reccommended this procedure rather than diet and exercise for his diabetes.
If this procedure was performed in a hospital, there should be a complaint process and investigation, the results of that and the final autopsy report may provide more information if taken to a medmal attorney for review, but this was a risky procedure for a diabetic, far more risky than diet and exercise, there is possibly more that you don't know. I asked how much tissue was removed, not where it was removed, removing more than a certain amount increases risk. Recovering at home without skilled monitoring increased the risk.

More Info: Apparently the incision/hole that was in his back was deep enough to rupture his intestines which caused the infection that ended his life. He was also not prescribed ANY pain medication OR antibiotics after the liposuction was done at the hospital...the hospital discharged him without realizing the damage to the intestines and said "he was fine to go home".

IF the plastic surgeon hadn't cut into his intestines my Father-in-Law would still be alive.
How do we go about filing a formal complaint with the hospital?
Thanks again for your input...

Haley3257 said:

More Info: Apparently the incision/hole that was in his back was deep enough to rupture his intestines which caused the infection that ended his life. He was also not prescribed ANY pain medication OR antibiotics after the liposuction was done at the hospital...the hospital discharged him without realizing the damage to the intestines and said "he was fine to go home".

IF the plastic surgeon hadn't cut into his intestines my Father-in-Law would still be alive.
How do we go about filing a formal complaint with the hospital?
Thanks again for your input...

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Have you seen how Lipo is done? It is very physicial in nature and if your FIL had been monitored in a certified recovery aftercare facility his infeciton might have been caught sooner.
Contact the administration of the Hospital

and what exactly do I say when I contact the Hospital Administration?

I would like to file a complaint re the hospital related death of my father in law, on behalf of my disabled mother in law who has given me permission to make the complaint.
You can also make a complaint with Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations http://www.jcaho.org/
Update us as this proceeds.

I'm a little nervous about filing this formal complaint...should we do this BEFORE hiring a lawyer OR wait and have the lawyer do it?

rmet4nzkx said:

Have you seen how Lipo is done? It is very physicial in nature and if your FIL had been monitored in a certified recovery aftercare facility his infeciton might have been caught sooner.
Contact the administration of the Hospital

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true but the hospital DISCHARGED him - he didn't discharge himself. They said he was fine and told him to go home.

Haley3257 said:

I'm a little nervous about filing this formal complaint...should we do this BEFORE hiring a lawyer OR wait and have the lawyer do it?

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If you are already going to hire a lawyer, I would have him/her do it for your mother-in-law, if that is what SHE wishes.

What does your MIL want to do, is she physically and emotionally able to follow through with this? Have you contacted a medmal attorney yet. While there may be a case, there are also defenses and who you might blame may not be the party with the most responsibility. It could be a very expensive and complex case let us know what you are told when you consult a medmal attorney.

Here are 2 links, the first from 2001 suggesting that liposuction may benefit diabetes, http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read,6,2227.html May 2001
The second one from 2004 and reported in NEJM found no benefit to liposuction for heart and diabetes http://mednewsarchive.wustl.edu/medadmin/PAnews.nsf/0/5CB0B012B243098F86256EAF007964F1
Most current sites suggesting liposuction in beneficial for diabetes is based on old data and placed on sites for plastic surgeons.

So beyond medication it's still diet and exercise.

Parkinson's is affecting my Mother-in-law's motor skills and she is becoming forgetful...her medication causes her to become extremely drowsy and fall asleep at any given time. She has a teenage girl and teenage boy to take care of. Due to the fact that there is no life insurance or health insurance she NEEDS money and if there is a chance that there is a case, then yes I believe she will sue...
She consulted with a lawyer yesterday but neither one said that she had an open and shut case - they told her to gather up all of the medical documents from every doctor her husband saw and that they would go from there...

rmet4nzkx said:

Here are 2 links, the first from 2001 suggesting that liposuction may benefit diabetes, http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read,6,2227.html May 2001
The second one from 2004 and reported in NEJM found no benefit to liposuction for heart and diabetes http://mednewsarchive.wustl.edu/medadmin/PAnews.nsf/0/5CB0B012B243098F86256EAF007964F1
Most current sites suggesting liposuction in beneficial for diabetes is based on old data and placed on sites for plastic surgeons.

So beyond medication it's still diet and exercise.

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I agree that diet and exercise should have been prescribed but his physician recommended liposuction and besides my father-in-law would have been fine IF the plastic surgeon hadn't ruptured his kidneys "accidentely" THAT is what killed him...