It’s not often a dead doctor gets sued for medical malpractice. In this strange case, a doctor’s estate is being sued for negligence.
The year was 2008. The woman in this case consulted with a plastic surgeon about the process required for reconstructive surgery, following a bilateral mastectomy. In May, the surgery was completed, once the woman had the bilateral mastectomies done.
During the follow-up process, when the woman wanted to discuss after surgical care, treatment and any other procedures that may be required, she was informed that the doctor was no longer in practice, due to an undisclosed illness. Baffled by this information, as the doctor had not seemed ill when she consulted with him prior to surgery, nor after her operation, she attempted to find out more.
What she discovered rocked her world. The doctor was evidently no longer practicing, as his medical license had been suspended as a result of several charges laid against him for refusing or failing to turn over patient medical records, and for falsifying medical records. Realizing that she needed to get her medical records, since he was no longer in practice, and she still needed care, she began the process of attempting to obtain them. While the physician’s office promised she would get them, they were never sent to her.
The woman went to another surgeon in 2010, who discovered the first doctor had not installed the devices she had chosen in 2008, and had assumed had been placed during surgery. This shocking discovery led to a second surgery to get things right. Then again, in 2011, another operation was required to complete the process.
The medical negligence suit states the first surgeon caused her unending pain and anxiety, severe emotional distress, extensive scarring, additional medical expenses relating to the two further reconstructive surgeries and lost income. The suit was filed against the doctor’s estate, as he had died in 2010, and his wife was named as his executrix.
Has this woman got a case? Most certainly. The horror show she went through to have reconstructive surgery done properly was indeed a three-ring circus. The fact that the first surgeon did not install the correct devices required for reconstruction after a bilateral mastectomy was egregious. But for his negligence, the woman would not have spent two extra years in and out of hospital getting the first botched surgery rectified.
Think you have been a victim of medical malpractice? Contact a Keene medical malpractice lawyer for advice.
Charlie Donahue is a New Hampshire personal injury lawyer located in Keene. Donahue handles injury cases in New Hampshire and across the United States. To learn more about New Hampshire injury attorney, Charlie Donahue, visit Donahuelawfirm.com.
