Is it malpractice if a doctor installed a partial knee and after a year I went to another doctor who found that the implant was misaligned?
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Is it malpractice if a doctor installed a partial knee and after a year I went to another doctor who found that the implant was misaligned?
I had knee surgery to install a partial knee replacement. I continued to have problems with knee and couldn’t bend it past 90*. The doctor made a note that the implant looked out of alignment during my post-op visit a week later, yet lead me to believe everything looked fine. After a year with no improvement I went for a second opinion. That doctor found the problem with the misalignment and repaired it with a full knee replacement. Do I have cause to file a malpractice suit against the first doctor?
Asked on April 24, 2012 under Malpractice Law, Washington
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Medical malpractice is negligence. Negligence is the failure to exercise due care (that degree of care in this case that a reasonable medical practitioner in the community would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances to prevent foreseeable harm).
It would be advisable to obtain your medical bills from both doctors, medical reports from the second doctor and documentation of any wage loss. Prior to filing a lawsuit for negligence against the first doctor, it may be possible to settle the case with the first doctor's malpractice insurance carrier. Your claim should include the medical bills from both doctors, medical reports from the second doctor and documentation of any wage loss. Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of your injury and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering, which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. If the case is settled with the first doctor's malpractice insurance carrier, NO lawsuit is filed. If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the first doctor's malpractice insurance carrier, reject the settlement offers and file your lawsuit for negligence against the first doctor. If the case is NOT settled with the first doctor's malpractice insurance carrier, you will need to file your lawsuit for negligence against the first doctor prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.
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