Surgery is an event about which most Illinois residents are nervous. Some fear anesthesia, some fear the procedure and some fear being the victim of surgical errors. Luckily most surgeries are free of problems, meaning most fears are unfounded; however, occasionally surgical errors do occur. In one such case, a trial is underway in another state involving a doctor who is being sued for failing to completely remove a woman’s appendix.
The lawsuit in is regard to whether the doctor acted negligently by failing to remove all of a patient’s appendix. The woman visited the emergency room in 2009 when she started to experience pain in her abdominal area. While she was at the hospital, she was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and, eventually, it became apparent that she was also three-weeks pregnant. When the woman was 23-weeks pregnant, she started to experience abdominal pain again.
She visited a local medical center where it was found that she had redeveloped appendicitis. It was also found that part of her appendix had not been removed when she had the initial appendectomy. Due to her surgery and chronic appendicitis, her daughter was born four months early. According to the lawsuit, leaving behind part of her appendix presented a danger to her and her baby.
Patients usually experience pain and suffering due to injuries caused by surgical errors. These injuries can force patients to miss time from work and experience financial losses. In this case, the woman may be compensated if evidence proves that the doctor acted negligently when he chose to remove only a portion of her appendix. Patients who suffer from injuries due to surgical errors may wish to file medical malpractice claims with Illinois civil courts in hopes of being awarded compensation for their losses.
Source: thetimesnews.com, “Testimony begins in medical malpractice case“, Michael D. Abernethy, Dec. 8, 2014