Do we have a personal injury case if there was a misdiagnosis?
My 16 year old went into surgery to have a cyst removed from her left ovaries, but when the doctor went in to remove the cyst it wasn’t on her left ovaries it was on the right ovaries. The right ovaries had actually had two cysts, one of which had burst. The doctor told me that she had to remove almost the entire ovary. All the papers that was signed was consent to remove a cyst from the left side. Is this at least misdiagnosis?
Answered By: Law Office of Mark J. Leonardo
There are thousands of cases out there where doctors operate on the wrong limb or wrong side of the brain, etc. It is amazing how this even happens. You may have a claim, but the question is what are your damages. Operating on an area of the body not authorized is considered a battery. But would you have rather the doctor closed the surgery and told you to have your daughter come back for a second surgery for the right side? What is the medical consequence of operating on the right side instead of the left? In order to have a viable medical malpractice claim you need to have damage. Unless you can prove some error on the doctors part that caused the cyst to burst, you do not seem to have any injury caused by his left side/right side error. Med Mal cases are hard and they would defend this one to the bitter end in all likelihood.
Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 9/29/2011
Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.
Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 9/29/2011
Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.
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