QUESTION
colonoscopy, doc. cut into my bowel. I ended up with a full bowel resection
Asked on May 27th, 2014 on Medical Malpractice - Indiana
More details to this question:
I went to my family doc. and he told me to have and colonoscooy. I told him I had a doc try to do one on me in 1988, and that doc told me that I can't have one done. because of scar tissue. My family doc said things are diff today, and they would use a ped scope, I asked him if he knew a doc that would not continue if he couldn't do it. He sent me to Dr. VanderHeyden. in south Bend IN. I also told this doc about the 1988 scope. He assured me he could do it and not hurt me. I had it done on 4/29/2014. On 5/2/2014. on sunday I was in so much pain I went to ER. they di abd scan. and had to do an emergency surgery,. The surgeon told me, My abd was full of air and feces. He said when the polyp was taken out. the doc cut to deep and left me with a tear. He said if I hadn't come in to ER I would have been dead by morning. Is this something that you would consider a lawsuit. I am now 3 weeks pas tsurgery and still can't do anything. I am 75 I live in Mishawaka IN, phone 574-855-3168
1 ANSWER
Catastrophic Injury Attorney serving Roseland, NJ
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John J. Ratkowitz
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Generally speaking, perforations during a colonoscopy are considered a risk inherent in the procedure and not medical malpractice. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule and to know for sure an attorney would have to obtain and review your records. Nevertheless, you are going to have a hard time finding an experienced medical malpractice attorney to put time in reviewing a case that is most likely defensible.
If you want to investigate a case, you should contact a local medical malpractice attorney (one in your state). They take these cases on a contingency basis which means you only have to pay if you succeed. Additionally, initial consultations are usually free. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" service through this website to research medical malpractice attorneys. Then, visit each attorney's website and look for a firm that has a record of successful verdicts.
Below are some articles you may find helpful. They are written for a New Jersey audience (where I practice) but the ideas discussed in these articles usually apply in most other jurisdictions as well.
Click here for an article that discusses the three main questions I ask when deciding whether to investigate a potential medical malpractice case. This discusses the issue of financial viability.
Click here for an article that explains what you can and should expect when pursuing a medical malpractice case.
Click here, here and here for more information about me. Click here for summaries of some of the cases that I have litigated. Click here to review articles that I have published.
Since I am a lawyer, I need to advise you of the following when I communicate with you: Please note that by attempting to answer your question, I am not acting as your attorney. I will do nothing further to protect or preserve your interests in the absence of any additional discussion with you about this matter. John Ratkowitz, Esq. Starr, Gern, Davison & Rubin, P.C. 105 Eisenhower Parkway Roseland, NJ 07068 Office: (973) 830-8441 Cell: (732) 616-6278 Fax: (973) 226-0031 Email: jratkowitz@starrgern.com Click here for my website.
Answered on May 28th, 2014 at 10:04 AM