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Home » Practice Areas » Medical Malpractice » Miami Attorney for Surgical Tools Left Inside After Surgery

Sometimes during a surgical procedure, a doctor will commit an error that might affect the patient’s health and well-being.  Many of these instances of “medical malpractice” can lead to lawsuits for the victim and their family, especially if they suffer ongoing medical needs and pain and suffering from the injury.

One example of severe medical malpractice involves leaving surgical tools behind inside the patient’s body after surgery.  This kind of mistake is unacceptable and often uses separate rules that help the victim prove their injury and the medical team’s fault.  For help with a medical malpractice lawsuit for a surgical tool left inside your body, call Prosper Shaked today.  Our attorney for surgical tools left inside the patient offers free legal consultations on these types of injury cases.  Our phone number is (305) 694-2676.

Suing for Surgical Tools Left Inside the Patient

Whenever a doctor commits an error or mistake in your care, you may be entitled to sue them for the effects of their mistake.  In many cases, medical negligence and sub-par care can result in physical injury, worsened conditions, physical pain and discomfort, lost wages, additional surgical procedures, and other harms.  A doctor who commits mistakes should be held responsible for any of those errors, and taking them to court is one of the best ways to get compensation and justice for your injuries.

In cases involving medical negligence, you typically need to use another doctor or medical expert to help prove your case in court.  This expert can testify to what the standard of care was and how your doctor’s treatment fell below this standard.  In cases involving surgical tools left inside the body, the doctor’s negligence is much more obvious.

When a patient undergoes surgery, the patient is unconscious and cannot move their body, let alone the surgical tools and instruments in the room.  This means that the only way that a clamp, scalpel, hemostats, or other surgical tool could get inside the body is if the doctor or someone else on the surgical team put it there.

Doctors and their medical staff are responsible for counting all tools and equipment before and after surgery, assuring that nothing goes missing and nothing is left inside the patient that is not supposed to be there.  Failing to keep track of tools and closing the patient’s incision while clamps or other tools are left inside is completely unacceptable, and there is typically a legal presumption that the doctor was at fault for this mistake.  This presumption helps you prove your case to a jury and win your medical malpractice lawsuit.

Damages for Medical Negligence Involving Retained Tools and Instruments

Although leaving a surgical tool inside a patient is uncommon, it does happen more frequently than one might expect.  The most common tools left inside are medical sponges and gauze, which can cause injuries, discomfort, and infection as the sponge or gauze stays inside and begins to shred and deteriorate.  Other surgical tools, such as scalpels, forceps, clamps, and hemostats, are typically made of sterilized stainless steel.  Although infection might be less common with these tools, they can cause very severe injuries from poking and prodding the patient internally, potentially causing severe injuries and requiring additional medical care you can seek compensation for.

When a doctor leaves something inside a patient that is not supposed to be there, the patient will certainly need additional surgery to remove the tool.  Especially for larger tools like forceps or dangerous tools like a scalpel, the patient may need invasive surgery to remove the tool safely without causing further damage retrieving the tool through minimally invasive surgery.  This additional care and any doctor’s visits or medical imaging to discover the tool and its location should be covered by the doctor who committed the error of leaving the tool inside in the first place.  Moreover, any medication or other healthcare required to treat the injuries should also be covered.

If you faced pain and discomfort from the surgical instrument left inside you, you could have seen an impact on your job and day-to-day activities.  If the injury caused you to miss work or caused additional injuries that kept you from working at your full wages, the doctor should be liable for any lost wages you faced.

Lastly, injuries from having a scalpel or another hard metal tool inside you could be quite painful and cause intense discomfort.  In some cases, it may be impossible to know that this was caused by a mistake, especially if your doctor assures you it is just a normal side effect of surgery.  This pain could last a long time before you discover the cause of the injury, and you could be entitled to substantial compensation for the pain as well as the mental and emotional effects of the injury.

Talk to a lawyer about what your case might be worth.  You should never accept payments for your injuries without talking to your lawyer first, since your doctor and their legal team might try to undervalue your case to avoid paying you full damages.

Call Our Miami Medical Malpractice Lawyer for Injuries from Surgical Instruments Left Inside the Body

If you or a loved one underwent surgery and later discovered that the doctor left a tool or instrument inside your body, call Prosper Shaked Accident Injury Attorneys PA.  We will analyze your case and help determine whether we can help get the compensation you deserve for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.  To schedule your free legal consultation, call us today at (305) 694-2676.