What are my rights if during a routine surgery my doctor knicked an artery causing external blood loss and internal bleeding?
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What are my rights if during a routine surgery my doctor knicked an artery causing external blood loss and internal bleeding?
The problem was the internal bleeding wasn’t diagnosed until 2 days later, leaving me with 2 large hemotomas in my pelvis, and requiring me to have to get 4 blood transfusions (even though I told him the same day that something wasn’t right, and I believed I had internal bleeding). Can I go after this doctor for failure to diagnose the internal bleeding?
Asked on July 24, 2014 under Personal Injury, New York
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
The question is whether the doctor was negligent, or unreasonably careless (medical care not up to accepted standards) or not. If the doctor was negligent, you may have a claim; but the law does not hold doctors to a standard of perfection, so if the doctor did everything he/she would be expected to and you had bleeding anyway, the doctor would not be liable (the law accepts that medicine is not perfect, and sometimes patients have bad outcomes even when the doctor does everything right). You should speak with experienced medical malpractice counsel; the lawyer can help you understand if you may have a case worth pursuing.
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