Kingston Medical Malpractice Attorney Discusses Hysterectomy Errors

The surgical procedure to remove a woman’s womb is called a hysterectomy.  This is considered to be a major operation with extended recovery time.  It is only performed once all less invasive options for treatment have been exhausted.  Women who are most likely to have the surgery are between the ages of 40 and 50.  There are about 600,000 of these procedures performed in the United States every year.

Risks of a Hysterectomy

As with all major medical procedures, hysterectomies carry risk.  Those risks include:

• Bladder injury
• Bowel or small intestine perforation
• Difficulty urinating
• Excessive blood loss
• Formation of a fistula
• Intestinal obstruction
• Mechanical obstruction of the intestines
• Post-operative infections
• Ureteral injury, and
• Vaginal vault granulation

The most common causes of medical malpractice liability that stem from performing a hysterectomy include:

• The failure to inform the patient of the risks associated with the procedure
• Failure to obtain the patient’s permission prior to performing a new procedure, except in emergency situations
• Improperly diagnosing a condition and/or unnecessarily or improperly performing the procedure, and
• Negligently causing or contributing to any of the risks listed above.

Even if the outcome of the hysterectomy was not what you expected, that does not mean that medical negligence was the cause of the injury.  In order to win a medical malpractice case against the gynecologist or other health care professional that was involved in performing the hysterectomy, it will be necessary to prove that the gynecologist did not provide the patient with the quality of care and the diligence of a competent gynecologist under similar circumstances.  The victim will likely need to find an expert medical witness with experience in performing hysterectomies.  They will need to testify as to the proper standard of care and whether the defendant lived up to the standard.  Additionally, the victim will also need to prove that they were injured as a result of the sub0standard care and actions of the gynecologist during the procedure.

If you or a loved one has been injured due to the negligent actions of a gynecologist during a hysterectomy, you should contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney to evaluate your case.

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.