What are my rights regarding botched surgery that had to be redone?
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What are my rights regarding botched surgery that had to be redone?
I had hip revision surgery done 4 years ago and have had problems with pain ever since. The surgeon said to give it time and to get PT and that would probably help but it didn’t. I then moved to another state and had to find a new doctor. He did tests and found that procedure failed needed to be re-done correctly. I need to know if I have grounds to sue the original surgeon
Asked on October 29, 2015 under Malpractice Law, Florida
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
Medical malpractice is negligence. Negligence is the failure to exercise due care (that degree of care that a reasonable medical practitioner in the community would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances to prevent foreseeable harm).
Obtain your medical bills, medical reports (especially from the second doctor) and documentation of wage loss.
Your lawsuit for negligence against the first doctor should seek compensation for these items. Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of your medical condition and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.
A lawsuit can be filed in the state where the plaintiff resides or in the state where the defendant resides or in the state where the claim arose.
If the statute of limitations has expired in one of these states, it may not have expired in the other state. Therefore, your lawsuit can still be filed.
Depending on the amount of time remaining until the statute of limitations expires, you may want to try to settle the case with the doctor's malpractice insurance carrier. If the case is settled, NO lawsuit is filed.
If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the malpractice insurance carrier, reject the settlement offers and file your lawsuit for negligence against the doctor. Only follow this procedure if there is significant time remaining prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations. If the statute is rapidly approaching, file the lawsuit as discussed above.
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