I have picked up a little unfortunate knowledge about this type of situation having been involved with a "device failure" related to surgery.
First of all, my deepest sympathies to you and your wife about your having to have this surgery repeated so quickly after the first one. I understand, since I have also had a similar type of surgery, that for a while afterward, you are post traumatic and even may have nightmares about having to repeat the process for several years if it doesn't happen! So sorry that you folks had to do it again so quickly. I very much hope your wife's new artificial valve will work well forever.
And everyone, everyone who was not in the medical field that we talked to about our surgery where the device failed said, "Can't you SUE somebody about this?" So we did a bit of checking.
We did several consults with attorneys (free ones, of course.) We did lots of discussing with medical professionals. We came to some basic conclusions.
One thing we discovered with a device failure is that when a suit is a possibility, you quickly become VERY UNPOPULAR with other surgeons/medical professionals who might see you and give second opinions. We were actually refused as clients by a couple of practices. It took persistence to get other good medical opinions.
And many first rate law firms will not deal with these sorts of medical malpractice cases. We became very leery of those who were eager. The exception was, of course, those who advertise on tv and talk specifically about this particular device produced by this particular company that they want to sue.
In order to prevail in a case of this type, you would have to show that the installation of the valve was in some way wrongly done by the physician, or they knowingly used a defective part, in which case other surgeons would have to be willing to testify that your doctor did something wrong something that could be interpreted as malpractice. That isn't easy to get them to do in most cases, unless there has just been terrible outright obvious negligence on the doctor's part.
We were told that sometimes the attorneys who are doing the suing will sue every physician who has treated you for the condition, figuring it will work itself out in the whole court case. In other words, if another doctor sees you, they are included in the suit brought by your attorney, and must defend themselves simply because they treated you. No wonder they were hesitant to take us on as new patients.
Otherwise, it must be shown that there is a design or manufacturing flaw in the actual device that was installed. In this case, the suit would be against the company. Needless to say, this is bigger than most local lawyers want to take on.
You will quickly find that the paperwork you signed may have indicated that you could possibly expect ten to twelve years of success with this part, there were certainly no guarantees made as to how long it would last. I myself read all the information, optimistically decided I'd get the max out of it, and chose not to use it because I don't want to think about having another such surgery in my 90's!
And even when there is a tv lawyer soliciting for clients who used this particular device this is a big and extended process. They prefer to talk to you after you've had the device replaced and you've been treated AFTER the snafu, so that your damages can be more appropriately assessed.
Frankly the more we investigated suits, the more we decided to let it go. Perhaps it was a defective part. Perhaps it was installed incorrectly. Perhaps the particular part your wife received was incorrectly prepared to be used, or it just came from an unhealthy animal in general. But a lawsuit in this case sure turned out to be less likely and less of a solution than we cared for. You will be likely to find out something similar, IMHO. Again, very best wishes for a quick recovery for your wife and good health going forward.
