malpractice or not???

[momom]

What is the name of your state?Maine
I am not sure if we have a case or not...in a nutshell, my fiance went in to have cysts removed from his earlobes, and the operation was done by a general surgeon. After the operation, we were told that a spark had hit his eardrum, and that it should repair itself within days. After trips to the ER, we went to his ear doc and discovered that his entire eardrum had been ruptured. We had not been told that this may happen, and the first doc never really seemed to think much of it. After over a year of follow ups with the ear doc, and a surgery to try to patch the ear drum, he still has constant ringing in his ears, and major hearing loss. Do we have a right to ask that medical expenses and missed work be compensated? Do we contact the doctor who performed the surgery, or the hospital president? He is only 38, and it looks like he will have the hearing loss for the rest of his life...aren't the responsible for these expenses, as well as future ones? (like hearing aids?)

 

[barry1817]

hearing loss

What is the name of your state?Maine
I am not sure if we have a case or not...in a nutshell, my fiance went in to have cysts removed from his earlobes, and the operation was done by a general surgeon. After the operation, we were told that a spark had hit his eardrum, and that it should repair itself within days. After trips to the ER, we went to his ear doc and discovered that his entire eardrum had been ruptured. We had not been told that this may happen, and the first doc never really seemed to think much of it. After over a year of follow ups with the ear doc, and a surgery to try to patch the ear drum, he still has constant ringing in his ears, and major hearing loss. Do we have a right to ask that medical expenses and missed work be compensated? Do we contact the doctor who performed the surgery, or the hospital president? He is only 38, and it looks like he will have the hearing loss for the rest of his life...aren't the responsible for these expenses, as well as future ones? (like hearing aids?)

I would first check with a malpractice attorney what the statute of limitations is in your state. You have said that the problem occurred over 1 year ago. You may very well have had a case, which may be precluded because of the time in pursuing it.

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[rmet4nzkx]

What is the name of your state?Maine
I am not sure if we have a case or not...in a nutshell, my fiance went in to have cysts removed from his earlobes, and the operation was done by a general surgeon. After the operation, we were told that a spark had hit his eardrum, and that it should repair itself within days. After trips to the ER, we went to his ear doc and discovered that his entire eardrum had been ruptured. We had not been told that this may happen, and the first doc never really seemed to think much of it. After over a year of follow ups with the ear doc, and a surgery to try to patch the ear drum, he still has constant ringing in his ears, and major hearing loss. Do we have a right to ask that medical expenses and missed work be compensated? Do we contact the doctor who performed the surgery, or the hospital president? He is only 38, and it looks like he will have the hearing loss for the rest of his life...aren't the responsible for these expenses, as well as future ones? (like hearing aids?)

Here is a link with informaiton about ruptured eardrums, in which you find that generally they heal on thier own, sometimes they require surgery.
http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/ears/perforation.cfm
It would depend on exactly the type of cyst, the cause and how deep the excision, was there any way to protect the eardrum. THere are risks with every surgery and sometimes they are unforsceen. Your fiencee should have signed an informed consent prior to surgery, he was incormed of the complication and was told it should heal on it's own, which is true, if he was still having problems, he should have immediately seen an ENT if it wasn't healing appropriately. He can consult a medmal attorney and a review of the records might reveal some negligence in the initial damage but a good portion is going to be due to his own body's response to the surgery and complicaitons.

 

[ellencee]

What is the name of your state?Maine
I am not sure if we have a case or not...in a nutshell, my fiance went in to have cysts removed from his earlobes, and the operation was done by a general surgeon. After the operation, we were told that a spark had hit his eardrum, and that it should repair itself within days. After trips to the ER, we went to his ear doc and discovered that his entire eardrum had been ruptured. We had not been told that this may happen, and the first doc never really seemed to think much of it. After over a year of follow ups with the ear doc, and a surgery to try to patch the ear drum, he still has constant ringing in his ears, and major hearing loss. Do we have a right to ask that medical expenses and missed work be compensated? Do we contact the doctor who performed the surgery, or the hospital president? He is only 38, and it looks like he will have the hearing loss for the rest of his life...aren't the responsible for these expenses, as well as future ones? (like hearing aids?)

My advice is to consult with a medmal attorney. Removing a cyst or cysts from an earlobe should not result in a ruptured eardrum. I may be wrong, but I believe the eardrum should have been protected and that the surgeon knew or should have known that by failing to protect the eardrum, significant damage would or could occur.

Here's a link to Maine's medmal statutes: http://www.mcandl.com/maine.html

I believe there is ample time in which to file suit; yet, I encourage the injured party to consult with a medmal attorney at his earliest convenience.

EC