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Surgical operations can take various forms, from outpatient procedures that only require regional anesthesia to emergency actions requiring general anesthesia and hours of intensive efforts by an entire medical team. On every part of that spectrum, though, you have the right as the patient to receive considerate and skillful care from qualified medical professionals, who will not only perform your surgery correctly but also clean up after themselves appropriately once the procedure is complete.
When surgeons and their teams are not diligent about meeting the standard of care they owe to patients, it can sometimes lead to foreign objects being left behind in a patient’s body after surgery—an error so severe that, as experienced surgical malpractice attorneys know, it is referred to as a “never event” by many healthcare providers. If you were injured by this egregious type of misconduct, a Philadelphia objects left in the body malpractice lawyer from Lowenthal & Abrams can help you enforce your right to civil recovery.
Never Events and Medical Malpractice Liability
In a medical context, “never event” is a colloquial term used to refer to medical errors so obviously harmful and incorrect that they cannot feasibly occur unless a medical professional engages in legally actionable malpractice. Alongside things like wrong-site surgery, use of contaminated drugs or devices, and maternal death in a low-risk pregnancy during labor or delivery in a medical setting, “unintended retention of a foreign object in a patient” following surgery is specifically listed as a “never event” by the National Quality Forum.
What this means for patients who have an object left in their body after surgery in Philadelphia is that they often have a much easier time than most malpractice victims in establishing that they have valid grounds to sue. Since no attentive and skilled physician should ever leave a foreign object in a patient’s body after surgery for any reason, regardless of their working environment, this type of error virtually always qualifies as a violation of the standard of care which the defendant physician(s) owed to their patient.
What Damages Could Be Recoverable for Foreign Object Injuries?
Lawsuits and settlement demands arising from post-surgical foreign object injuries can encompass both economic and non-economic harm stemming from the medical error in question. This can include both short-term and long-term losses relative to when legal proceedings actually begin, such as:
- Additional medical expenses for treating malpractice-related injuries
- Lost working capacity and/or work earnings
- Disability-related expenses for assistive equipment, in-home care, etc.
- Physical pain and suffering
- Psychological trauma and distress
- Lost enjoyment of life
However, every case is different, just like every injured person, so it is generally best to discuss recovery options and strategies with a skilled malpractice lawyer before filing a lawsuit over a Philadelphia foreign object surgical error alone.
Talk to a Philadelphia Objects Left in the Body Malpractice Attorney Today
“Never event” or not, achieving a favorable resolution from a civil claim over any type of malpractice can be a challenging and time-consuming affair. On top of the unique evidentiary standards and other procedural rules applied to cases of this nature, you may also have to contend with strident opposition from insurance companies, medical facilities, and the physician(s) you are accusing of harming you through their professional misconduct.
Fortunately, you have help available from the knowledgeable legal professionals at Lowenthal & Abrams, all of whom know how to fight tenaciously and effectively on behalf of people like you. Call today to learn what a Philadelphia objects left in the body malpractice lawyer can do for you.
