Thomas Pleasant helps people who are being victimized by insurance companies. If you are facing obstacles in getting your insurer to pay a legitimate claim or if your claim has already been denied, Thomas can help you. His areas of special expertise include insurance bad faith cases, long-term disability claims, and property damage and losses as well as personal injury and product liability cases, and situations in which people are being treated unfairly by their employers and as consumers. Thomas represents clients in the Southeast and Mid regions of North Carolina. If you need legal help, contact Thomas today for a free consultation. www.pleasantlaw.com

Pleasant Law Blog (Insurance Claims, Medical Misakes, and Nursing Home Claims)

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Medical Negligence, Mistakes and Malpractice

11/17/2008
Thomas Pleasant
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Surgery Mistakes and Informed Consent: Doctors/Surgeons Must Inform Their Patients of Risks of Surgery; and Adhere to the Standard of Care

Medical negligence complaints often arise from mistakes made by surgeons during surgery. While some surgeries can be extremely difficult, and the likelihood of bad outcomes high, medical malpractice can and does still occur. A doctor performing surgery must adhere to the standard of care applicable to the physicians in that community, so even if a surgery is difficult, a surgery error can still be made giving rise to a supportable medical negligence lawsuit. Further, when a high probability of a bad outcome is likely from surgery, the doctor’s failure to explain the dangers of the surgery (i.e.,  the patient’s lack of “informed consent”) can give rise to medical liability, despite that those bad outcomes were a known risk of the surgery. Also, surgery candidates often are not informed that there are different ways to perform certain types of surgeries, with a particular type possibly being more risky. For example, a common shoulder surgery is “rotator cuff repair” surgery. This procedure can generally be done using one of three accepted methods: the “open” procedure, the “mini-open” procedure, or the “arthroscopic” procedure. While with rotator cuff repair the surgeon’s own skill and experience may determine which surgery procedure he or she uses, the patient should be informed of the risks, pros and cons of each procedure type. A known risk of rotator cuff repair surgery is “deltoid avulsion,” which is when the primary shoulder muscle, the deltoid, detaches after surgery and slumps down. This surgical problem can arise when the surgeon removes too much bone during the repair of the rotator cuff, and the likelihood of this cause may be increased through the use of the “open” procedure.  Deltoid muscle avulsion can be a painful condition, and usually requires an additional surgery to correct. A North Carolina medical negligence lawyer can help you with your concerns about surgical negligence, mistakes or errors. A bad outcome does not necessarily mean that medical negligence or malpractice has occurred, but if you or someone you love has been injured, hurt or killed wrongfully as a result of surgery; contact my law office for a free consultation. Our call center and main office is in Fayetteville, but I can arrange to meet with prospective clients at our location in either Raleigh or Wilmington as well. In some cases, I am even willing to travel to your home to discuss your matter. Feel free to contact The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant with your medical/surgical error concerns.


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