After a surgical procedure, the post- operative care is a critical part of the healing process. If the post-operative care was performed in a negligent manner, serious physical problems can occur, including infections, surgery failures, and a failure to heal correctly, leaving permanent and disfiguring scars. There can be even more serious consequences, such as the wrong dose of a dangerous drug, leading to other medical conditions. There are many serious injuries, conditions or even death that are directly related to post-operative care, either in the hospital or on an outpatient basis.
Filing a claim against the physician, surgeon, hospital or dental practitioner for a failure in post operative care should be undertaken by a highly skilled medical malpractice attorney. Medical malpractice cases are considered to be more difficult, and not all personal injury law firms get involved in these cases. When a hospital, doctor or other medical facility or personnel has made a grave error, there is often a "code of silence" that follows. The hospital does not want to get sued; the doctors and nurses are employed by the hospital, or using that facility; doctors refer patients back and forth and count on these referrals to survive; and most patients are required to sign a form in which it is agreed that arbitration will take place rather than a lawsuit, at least as the initial step.
The medical community has a very strong lobby as well. Generally, physicians and surgeons are highly respected, and it is assumed that the patient's health is the main concern. There are cases in which negligence took place, and an illness, condition, disability or death was the result. If it is established that the level of post operative care was below the accepted standard, compensation could be recovered. At the Sumner Law Group, LLC, we serve as counsel in a range of medical malpractice cases, including those involving negligent post-operative care.