Wife had surgery. Left stuff in her. LEGAL HELP

Tex Star Detail

Formerly TexasTB
First off, I talked to a paralegal today. Plan on talking to others.

Here is the run down. Summed up

Wife was Pregnant..
Had abnormal Pap. test.
Gave Birth
Off insurance after Birth. Everything else is out of pocket.
Pap. test came back....she has Cervical Cancer...they caught it early.
She needed a histerectomy, and her bladder and such sew back in place.

So here is the story. My wife had the surgery on June 30th. No problems during. Came home on the 1st. Bed rest for 6 weeks and tons of pain meds.
Today, she had unbearable pain and could not urinate. Took her to the local clinic. A little talking and then an exam. What did we find during the exam?
PACKING! (Gause) It was about the size of 3 wet paper towels.
I was not happy. I had to pay for that office visit and medicine to stop infection out of MY DANG POCKET.

Here is what happend. After the surgery, the surgeon left (like always) and left the clean up to the others. Some guy checked inside her, think he was a Resident...I know he was not a Doctor. He said there was NO PACKING. And that was that. A few hours later, the DOC came in looking at the papers. Heasked..." Mr. So and So didn't take out/find any packing in you?" After my Wife said no, he said, "That is ODD". and that was the end of it.

WTF

You would think, if it was odd to him, he would FRIGGEN RE-CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that led to the office visit today....4 days later


Talked to a para legal, they said there really is not much that can be done, since she is not re admitted, and she does not have infection.....

But, we did have to take a trip to the office, pay for it and the medicine, have her in pain.....and so on....

The para legal said we should talk to the hospital about it........
WHY?, so they can FORGET ABOUT IT?

What should I do?
Keep talking to law offices until I hear someone say they can do something about it? OR talk to the hospital to see if they can refund any and all expenses, now and later, that has to do with this situation?

The Doc. prescribed anitbiotics for "preventing" as he said, any infections. I figured she already had one, since they took her temp. there and she had a slight fever..........
 
Definitely see a lawyer. There is a cause of action here. I'm sure that there was a procedure that was not followed, which resulted in a miscount of medical supplies used during the operation. Mistakes happen, but there are consequences for carelessness, especially for a professional. Your family sufferred going through this ordeal, and it doesn't sound like it is completely over. I hope you wife feels better soon.
 
A friend of a family had some minor surgery the begining of the year, Not sure on the exact story, but they forgot to do somthing, she got a infection, had like a 103 temp like the day after she got let out (how she found out somthing was wrong). they had to do like 2 other surgeries to take care of that, then had to have some kind of suction thing on to clean the wound for like month. But anyway she talked to her new doctor, since there was no way she would go back to the other guy, he looked up the "bad" doctor and i guess he has had a dozen cases brought against him. But he said about 99% of lawsuits against the doctors there dont win. Why?.....Because they are part of the Mayo Health System. (like the largest bestest in the world or somthing). So basicly she is screwed.

But im guessing you would definitly have a case, atleast on the excess fees that were involved, and the hardship and pain it caused.
 
Here is what is confusing me... WHY ARE YOU ASKING THIS ON A CAR FORUM? The other thing that is confusing me is... WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO A PARALEGAL? Just go talk to a lawyer who is a specialist in medical malp-ractice.

Oh, and a Resident IS a Doctor.
 
Chris, you're in Texas. Go find the surgeon, and the resident who "effed" up, and shoot them dead. Supposedly, the defense of "They needed killin'..." is still valid in your state. :D


Seriously though, go talk to a real lawyer.
 
yeah they are correct, a resident is a doctor. They have the degree, just need to gain experience under a "seasoned" doctor in order to gain full licensure & priviledges and so forth.
As far as true malpractice goes, many times patients lose when they cannot prove that some action (or lack of action) by a doctor lead Directly to some "damage" (for lack of better term) to the patient. There may be some legal recourse, but unfortunately I doubt malpractice would be found because (thankfully) no irreversible or damaging medical problems resulted due to negligence. I don't want to sound negative just trying to offer some input.

With that said I feel bad for you and wish you and your wife the best in this situation
 
DFTowel said:
Here is what is confusing me... WHY ARE YOU ASKING THIS ON A CAR FORUM?


Off topic for a minute...
At first thought I wondered the same thing. Then I got to thinking, I'm not sure of all the forum members professions, meaning maybe there's a lawyer in the house. And maybe the poster was looking for some help/advice within his network of friends who could share similar experiences.

Hope mom and baby are doing well. We just had our 2nd child two weeks ago.
 
scrub said:
DFTowel said:
... WHY ARE YOU ASKING THIS ON A CAR FORUM?

Off topic for a minute...
At first thought I wondered the same thing. Then I got to thinking, I'm not sure of all the forum members professions, meaning maybe there's a lawyer in the house. And maybe the poster was looking for some help/advice within his network of friends who could share similar experiences.

Hope mom and baby are doing well. We just had our 2nd child two weeks ago.

[RANT]I don't see anything wrong with Tex posting this here. As Scrub has stated, we do not know if there are any lawyers or paralegals in the City that might be able to give some advice on how to proceed with this matter. Or a family member in the medical field who might be able to lend some insight.

In addition, I feel he is a "forum friend" who is going through an extremely rough time right now & has as much right to post about that as a question about which towel to use to remove product.[/RANT]

Chris, I wish I could offer you some good advice, but all I can do is send my very best wishes to your wife for a speedy recovery from her surgery & an extra dose of strength & patience for what you are going through - you & your family will be in my prayers.

Norah


Congrats on the new detailer, Scrub!!
 
Chris go talk to a lawyer.
Norah you are correct and you stated it eloquently. If Chris wants to post about this negligent mishap then he has every right to do so.
This site is, I would hope more than about how to shine pieces of painted sheetmetal.
Good luck Chris to you and your family. Rick
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
Chris, you're in Texas. Go find the surgeon, and the resident who "effed" up, and shoot them dead. Supposedly, the defense of "They needed killin'..." is still valid in your state. :D


Hahahaha
 
DFTowel said:
Here is what is confusing me... WHY ARE YOU ASKING THIS ON A CAR FORUM? The other thing that is confusing me is... WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO A PARALEGAL? Just go talk to a lawyer who is a specialist in medical malp-ractice.

Oh, and a Resident IS a Doctor.

I am asking on a Car forum, because I know there are some folks out there that know the laws.

Why was I talking to a para legal? Well, no law offices were open, so I decided to contact my wifes cousin, a para legal in Dallas, and ask a few questions. She gave me numbers to some of her friends, which I called also.

And for the Resident, he must hve gotten out of school not too long ago. He wa there with other folks learning....tagging along......
They do that at this hospital........they have medical students come on and learn.....


Again, thanks for the help everyone else...just trying to get a few opinions on things.....
 
I will offer my opinion. First let me say i am not into the whole lawyer and suing people thing. In this case however i only have one thing to say. Go get yourself a good Medical Malpractice Attorney and take the needed steps to get all medical bills taken care of and money for pain and suffering.

Richard
 
Thanks for the help everyone.
I will be talking to a few law firms this week to see what the best thing to do is. Whether it be sue, or simply talking to the hospital about getting some of the bills taken off that I had to pay, that had/have been linked to the occurance.

I think it is safe to say this thread can go away now. I know there are alot of people biting tongues and I do not want it to blow into a flame war.
I simply wanted opinions and I got them.

Thanks
 
The thread is fine. Could be a good resource in the future. I didn't want to see this thread go south and turn into a flame war.
 
Just a thought.......Austin isn't that far from you and there are scads of specialty attorneys there. I wish you and yours the very best.
 
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