A gastric bypass is a surgical procedure in which a doctor removes or staples part of the stomach so that food will circumvent the natural route that food takes from the stomach to the intestine. Just as it sounds, this type of surgery is very complicated and requires a surgeon with extreme skill and a plethora of experience to perform. There are many instances when a surgeon makes an error in the operation, performs the surgery on a patient that isn’t able to withstand the operation, or doesn’t provide the proper treatment after the surgery was completed. Because this is an elective surgery that requires an agreement from both the doctor and the patient, it’s common for medical malpractice cases to arise from these complex operations. If you recently had a gastric bypass procedure that resulted in damages it wasn’t supposed to cause, then you need to get in touch with a lawyer to help you with your case. There are many things a lawyer can do that will benefit you in the end.
Do You Have a Medical Malpractice Case?
Before getting in touch with a lawyer about your gastric bypass medical malpractice case, you need to determine if you even have one that’s worth pursuing. There are a few things to look out for when determining if your surgeon made an error in your operation.
One of the most important determining factors in a gastric bypass medical malpractice case is if the operation was performed successfully. After the operation, you will get an evaluation from the doctor and staff outlining the complexities of the operation. If the desired goal was achieved and the operation went off without a hitch, then you likely have no case to pursue. However, if the goal of the surgery was not attained and there were complications involved, then you may want to speak with a lawyer about what happened. The right lawyer can connect you with other doctors that will be able to thoroughly examine you and find out what happened during the procedure. If you’re in pain or something feels abnormally wrong after the operation, this is a strong indicator that something went wrong, even if the performing surgeon is telling you otherwise.
Another determining factor if you have had a gastric bypass medical malpractice case or not is if you were healthy enough to undergo the operation in the first place. If you were too obese, old, or sick when the operation was performed, the doctor can be held liable for any damages that resulted because of this. A professional surgeon knows that they should not perform operations on people with certain conditions or health risks, but some of them do it anyway. This is usually because they want to make the extra money.
Another common reason people seek compensation from a surgeon is because the doctor performed the operation in a facility that didn’t have the proper equipment to allow a patient to properly recover or handle an obese person. If the surgery went fine but you experienced health issues in the facility the operation was performed at while you were supposed to be recovering, then you may very well have a case worth pursuing. Basically, if you feel that something is wrong or don’t feel well after your operation, you should speak with a lawyer about what’s going on.
What Will a Lawyer Do?
If you hire a lawyer to investigate your case, they are going to do many things to figure out if they can hold the surgeon legally responsible for any mishaps that resulted from your surgery. First of all, they are going to investigate the surgeon in question to see if there have been any similar instances reported in the past. If there have been reports previously, especially ones that resulted in medical malpractice settlements, then there’s a good chance the surgeon made an error during your operation as well.
Another thing a lawyer will do is to investigate the facility where you had the operation. A lawyer can find out if the facility was well-equipped to perform the operation or not, and they can also find out if the facility was prepared to handle an obese person in recovery after the surgery. They will do this by bringing qualified medical professionals to the facility to find out if the right tools were present and if the facility was properly prepared for gastric bypass recovery patients.
The lawyer will also be able to investigate what happened after your operation. A patient recovering from the gastric bypass surgery needs to remain in the hospital for a certain period of time and be kept under strict supervision. If they were not, and an injury or something negative happened, the surgeon responsible for the patient can be held liable for the damages. A good lawyer will know just how to figure out if the surgeon followed the proper procedures or not by speaking with staff, having other doctors examine the patient, and by reading through the medical charts.
These cases need to be treated delicately because they are very sensitive to begin with. Doctors that perform this operation know that they can charge a lot of money from the person who wants to have it done, so they may overlook certain health aspects that could pose complications in the future. Many patients are now covered by their health insurance to have the procedure done as well, so it’s easier for a doctor to convince the patient that they should have the surgery. If you have recently had the gastric bypass operation in Arizona and feel that errors were made or complications happened, get in touch with Tobler Law. This law firm is experienced in dealing with these types of cases, so they will be able to properly investigate yours and represent you with professional, experienced lawyers.