A few days ago we signed up a medical malpractice case.
A woman went in to a Pittsburgh hospital to have a relatively simple surgical procedure done.
She was having a neurotransmitter placed in to her spine to provide pain relief. The doctor who performed the surgery apparently nicked a bone or vein during the procedure.
As a result, the patient was paralyzed for over 30 days.
Obviously, this is a serious injury claim.
Think this is an open and shut case?
I mean, the doctor and the hospital messed up in their care of the patient right?
How much clearer can it be?
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
I can tell you from experience that both the doctor and the hospital are going to fight this all the way through trial.
Want to test your legal eagle skills?
What do you think the defense will be?
Their likely defense will be that this is a known risk of having this surgery.
They will go in to court waving the consent form they have every patient sign before any surgery is performed.
Somewhere on that consent form that the patient signed there will be a part talking about known risks of the medical procedure.
One of the known risks of this operation is the possibility of paralysis.
Further, Pittsburgh wrongful death, medical malpractice, car accident, slip and fall and criminal defense attorney Bernie Tully thinks it is very likely the defense will hire their own expert.
That expert will have very impressive credentials.
He or she will have gone to an Ivy League medical school. That doctor will say that he or she is independent in their evaluation of the claim.
Then we will get the medical expert’s report.
The expert’s report will say it is very easy for something like this to happen during a delicate surgery.
The expert’s report will also say that even if a surgeon makes this mistake it is not medical malpractice.
Why? Because even the most skilled surgeon can mess up a surgery like this.
So there you have it.
This is a perfect example of why medical malpractice cases are both difficult and costly.
And predictable.
How am I able to be so certain about what the medical defense will be in this medical malpractice claim?
Because it is the same scenario we face in every medical malpractice case.
Neither the doctor nor the hospital will admit that they committed malpractice. The last thing they are willing to do is acknowledge the error.
If they did so, their malpractice insurance rates would go through the roof.
So Pittsburgh wrongful death, medical malpractice, car accident and product liability attorney Bernie Tully will likely file the lawsuit and see where the truth lies.
Thanks for reading.
Bernie the attorney