has anyone sued for bad surgery

Marta, I was a victim of LASIK malpractice a few years ago and I did sue.  Because there was clearly gross negligence and improper referral for kickback, I had no trouble finding an attorney to take my case, and I didn't have to front a dime--his fee came out of my settlement. 

However, that was the most stressful year of my life.  I couldn't sleep and would stay up until 2:00 a.m. searching the internet for answers to what had happened to me (the blade jamming in my first eye, my pupils were never measured and are HUGE at night, an inflammation that ate 1/3 of my cornea before my stupid optometrist got me back to the surgeon, the fact that my optometrist owned part of the laser center and referred me to an absolute rookie after lying that his results were better than those by UCLA surgeons.....the list goes on and on).  When I did finally collapse in bed,  I had to deal with the lies my doctors told under oath.  I was angry, severely depressed, and wanted to put a knife into my right eye.  I endured eight more surgeries, none of which fixed the problems.   The money I ended up with wasn't enough to change our lives, and no amount will fix my eyes--the technology still does not exist.  California has a $250K cap for pain and suffering, and your attorney gets a huge chunk of that. 

After my lawsuit settled, I did file complaints against both doctors with their respective governing boards, and both were investigated; both walked away undisciplined, even though each pointed a finger at the other and demonstrated that there was blame to be placed.  Plus, I was able to prove that my surgeon was lying.  It didn't matter to the medical board.

Was it worth suing?  Not for the money.  The doctors' attorneys were also incredibly stupid, and did not remember to include a gag order as part of the out-of-court settlement.  The ONLY satisfaction I got was indisputable validation that I'd been victimized so that when I put my story out there on the internet, it was taken seriously.  I derived great satisfaction from educating others, and I stopped a lot of people from having flaps that will never heal cut into their corneas.  I received notes of gratitude from thousands of prospective patients all over the world and that felt really good---like I hadn't suffered in vain.

In order to bring a malpractice suit, you have to prove that the doctor deviated from the standard of care.  A complication doesn't constitute malpractice and surgeons cannot guarantee the outcome of any procedure.  Everybody heals differently and unpredictably.

You also need a medical expert--a doctor who is willing to take the stand for you and testify that your doctor did something wrong.   It is incredibly difficult to find an expert who will stand by you until your day in court arrives.  It's easy to find experts willing to review your records for a fee, and I personally know a currently litigating patient who paid a doctor $50,000 who agreed to be her expert, only to have him back out just after he received payment.

The last component is damages.   A jury will have to consider your actual financial loss(es), as well as whether to award you something for pain and suffering.   Most jurors put doctors up on a pedestal, and it's difficult to convince them to find a doctor guilty.  Their insurance companies train them how to talk and act in court.  The doctor's attorney's goal will be to paint a very bad picture of you, and they often dredge up anything in your past or say anything possible that can make you look bad and cause you to lose any sympathy the jury may feel for you.  They will confuse you during testimony and get you to say things you don't mean, causing you to lose your credibility.  Most malpractice cases that make it to court are won by the doctor.

Having said all of that, if you are convinced that you are a victim of malpractice, call a few attorneys and get their opinions.  If they believe that you have a valid claim, they will usually take your case on contingency and not charge you anything until they obtain a settlement or jury award on your behalf.   Good luck with this.  A lawsuit is a hell all of its own and I wouldn't wish the experience on my worst enemy.  My case took a year, but the friend I mentioned above has been in litigation for over six years now, with no end in sight.

Sandy, that says it all right there.  There is a great misunderstanding in this country that everyone is out to sue, but the stats in most states show very few doc's being suied it is that when a case is won the amounts make it look like a bigger problem than it is.  And also as you said there is a cap in CA (and some other states too).

They will bring up ANYTHING they can to suggest that the person suing is unstable - so if you ever even saw a counselor in your life they open that all up in court.  Hell I had a car accident where the 18 year old kid hit me from behind (he had had two prior accidents in his short driving career) I was at a complete stop behind a bus and he plowed into me.  To get just my medical and car paid for even when he received the ticked was shear misery!  I had seen a councelor and they wanted to bing in all those records!  It had absolutely nothing to do with the case but they were willing to but everything that my therapist wrote on the court room floor in some attempt to show I was in the smallest way responsible.  Actually it was to make sure that I wouldn't sue - but that's another story.. I finally won but if it is that difficult with a car accident when there is absolutely no question as to the guilt of the other party well lets just say Sandy has described it well!!!!

Best

Marian

That last answer by Sandy K is an interesting one. Somehow I cannot imagine my narcissistic PS ever giving an inch, but maybe it would work for some.  I did report mine to board of Medical examiners (state/Oregon) after reading all the complaints (you can look them up online) made re other MDS.  It helped that the head of the board was my family MD and friend.  Unfortunately he had to "recuse" himself from the entire thing because he knew me but felt certain action would be taken. He said if it was the second time a complaint had been made against the guy, they would pull his liciense.   so we jumped thru all the hoops and in 3 mos or so were sent a lettersaying they had sent him a letter of concern but that the findings were not grave enough to put him on probation. Disappointing , but:  My friend/MD/head of board asssured me that with my case the minimum that would have been done was he would have to go before a table of three MDs, that it would be very intimidating, and if he said anything like"Well she is a crazy bitch" he would be suspended. 

So even tho it is all confidential, I am having faith that that happened to him, and he had to grovel and apologize, and if one other woman reports him, he will be toast.  I did consult a lawyer friend who is also a nurse, as I am , and she thought there was not enough to go thru witha lawsuit. Plus, the statute of limitations is ridiculous, like two years. I think we MUST bond and report these people to the board of medical examiners.  Look how many of us there are!  Surely if we get this rolling there will be duplicates!

I will see if I can post my complaint somehow so any of you can look at it.  I wil have to wait til my husband gets home to do it tho.

I strongly disagree that a redo won't be covered.

Mine and many others here have had redo's covered by ins.  I also had augment after the first lift on the good breast offered no symmentry to the redo on the mast side.

It takes pictures and sometimes a letter from the ps, but that shouldn't be a problem if you already like the new ps and he's agreeing that you need a redo.

I would never go back to my first ps, even tho I had known him professionally in another setting.  I didn't choose him but by bs did.

I found a ps for my redo after seeing 2 others who also felt a redo was indicated,.

Just my 2 cents worth - the reason to sue most of the time isn't for money - it is to get this person of the street and to prevent them from ever doing this to anyone else.  I sued a medical professional - not a doc, but a pharmacist who filled a thyroid Rx at 38,000 times the dose it was supposed to be (yes, you read that right) - 38,000!  I took 2 pills and went into a coma - who knew - you go to the pharmacy, get your pills, and think all is ok.  I was in a coma on life support for about 8 weeks - and then a LONG, SLOW recovery - I literally had to learn to walk again, talk again, write again, think again - I didn't even know my name!  At any rate, I sued so he could NEVER be that careless again with anyone else's life.  It was a long process and your life becomes an open book - they wanted to know what my extracurricular activities were in elementary school - what the %^&$ does that have to do with anything?  It was emotionally, the worst thing I have ever been through.  But come to find out that this pharmacist had been arrested 3 prior times for drug related things! My sole goal was to get this guy out of business.  He had lost his license before, been arrested, etc but they always gave him his license back eventually - we did settle out of court and we did get some $ but the malpractice attorney got 40%!  And this guy lost his license again - he actually voluntarily surrended it - but after 5 years (this happened 7 years ago), they GAVE HIM BACK HIS LICENSE AGAIN!!!!!!! Can you believe that?  My case was a little different because of his drug related offenses, the DEA and FBI were involved but still............it was almost as traumatic going through the law suit process as was the catastrophic illness he caused.  So, think long and hard about it before you decide to go ahead with a suit - my only satisfaction was that for 5 years, this guy didn't have the chance to kill anyone else.

My best wishes to you and I hope you get a satistfactory recon!

Hugs, Cindie

Moemeowster,  I think what is being said, or at least what I am saying is that I did do everything you advice, as well as got some really sound recommendations from other doc's in my area about this guy (ps)..   Saw the pictures, asked my gut what kind of person this was.. but the persona of a great deal of these ps is different when you (we) are a potential patient as to when you are actually working on us.  In other words they do good marketing but not necessarily good work.  And no one would argue that the patient is part of the process, but if and individual has been hurt AFTER doing their part they have a right and even a responsibility to DO something they certainly have the right to be unhappy with the results!  There are different doc's but their is a general line of what is considered "standard care" if someone deviates from that it doesn't really matter what they said to you earlier or how good their pic's were, how well they are liked  - you (or I) am still hurt!

And the "standard care" starts with "do no harm first"..  this is a valid line of concern and questioning and although most of us will not sue it is OK to be unhappy, and this is a good forum to express that.  And if someone who is considering this process happens to read this before their procedure it could actually do some good in the world.

If a co-worker hurt you would you just leave it be?  This process is not as black and white as you would like to think.  This is not a product that has been badly made this is our bodies - our sense of self to some degree!  This is not a "let the buyer beware" type of situation although the buyer should beware the responsibility is on the professional to do the best job possible.  And if someone is hurt, or believes they are hurt then the professional IS responsible.

Best

Marian

Thoroughly researching a doctor will not guarantee your outcome.  You can pay for the best and end up a victim of malpractice.  Even the top surgeons make mistakes.   When a patient ends up unhappy, one of the first things the doctor can do is to pay for a consult with an expert, for a second opinion.   The worst thing the doctor can do is act apathetic and ignore the patient's complaints, because the patient will become angry, and angry patients sue.  When a doctor will search to the ends of the earth to find a solution for a patient who has suffered a bad outcome, the patient will usually continue to trust that doctor and they can work together toward a solution.   Lawsuits are the result of broken trust, desertion and feelings of betrayal.  Unfortunately, some areas of medicine are more commodity than care, and doctors are often salespeople first and will say what they need to say to close a sale.

Another thing to consider before taking legal action is that the medical community in many cities is a small world. Suing one PS is likely to make you a hot potato with any others in the immediate area.

None of them want to be sued and I'm sure they'd avoid patients they thought were prone to that.  

The problem is, this is a VERY complicated surgery. Doctors who do not have much experience are doing it anyway. It's sad. Everyone needs to really research the doctor before the let them do this surgery.