Medical Malpractice Lawyer Phoenix, AZ

We’ve seen those medical drama shows when a surgeon gets distracted and accidentally leaves an item inside of a patient after they closed them up. And while this may sound like a Hollywood drama, leaving surgical instruments inside a patient can happen. While rare, if not treated they can have fatal consequences. Obviously, injuries caused by leaving surgical instruments behind is something that can be completely avoidable. If you are ever a victim of this terrible accident, you should be entitled to compensation.

What can you claim as medical malpractice?

Leaving an instrument behind is clearly negligence, but you can only claim medical malpractice if you have an injury as a direct result of this negligence. One type of injury you might see if an instrument was left behind include internal injuries. For example, if a pin or blade was left behind it could puncture an organ or tissue.

Another injury type includes an infection. If anything porous such as a sponge or a rag is left inside a patient, it can collect bacteria. This bacteria can build up and lead to an infection. Infection can occur even if nothing was left inside the patient, but rather the surgeons used instruments that were not properly sterilized before using.

Finally, if you require additional surgery as a result of the mistake, you can claim medical malpractice. This is because when you are subjected to an additional surgery, it means you require more time to heal. More time to heal means you have to take more time off of work, you are staying in the hospital longer so it’s more expensive, and there is the emotional trauma of having to endure an additional surgical procedure.

Next steps

While it may seem unbelievable that a surgeon would leave an instrument inside of a patient, it does occasionally happen. Some common causes include having staff members that are under trained, doctors are tired and exhausted due to a long shift and simply miss something, or just a lack of communication in the operating room. Whatever the reasoning may be, if you are injured as a result, you need to file a medical malpractice claim.

Make sure you are timely in filing your claim as many states have statutes of limitations on medical malpractice lawsuits. All the paperwork needs to be filed quickly and accurately. Many people don’t realize that when they sue a doctor, they are actually suing their insurance company. So make sure you understand how to reach out to and speak to their representatives.

If this process sounds overwhelming to you, you can always reach out to a medical malpractice lawyer Phoenix, AZ relies on at Rispoli Law, PLLC . They can help you navigate the process so you don’t have to worry about it. When searching for an attorney, make sure you do your research. You want someone on your team who is experienced in winning these tricky malpractice cases. You want someone you can trust and who you know has your best interest at heart. Lawyers don’t have to be difficult to work with if you find someone with integrity as well as the knowledge to win your case.