$1.8 million awarded for surgical errors resulting in sterility

A woman who was tragically rendered infertile due to an error on the part of her doctors has been awarded a payout by a jury, according to local news. Delaware residents will likely be pleased to hear the woman was awarded $1.8 million when she sued her doctors for medical malpractice. While surgical errors of this type are not always life-threatening, they can certainly be life-changing, which is why malpractice suits are filed. 

According to this filing, the woman underwent an appendectomy on May 23, 2011, when another doctor entered the operating room and began performing surgery on an abscess on the woman’s right fallopian tube. The doctor performing this surgery was not long out of her residency and had not performed this sort of surgery before. Realizing something was amiss, she conferred with her colleagues only to determine she had cut the wrong tube. 

The result was sterility for the patient, which also required her to attempt further risky surgeries to try for invitro fertilization. She sued the doctor responsible for the surgical errors and won. The court awarded her damages and medical expenses to the tune of $1.8 million. 

While the implications of surgical errors can range from problematic to terrifying, Delaware residents understand that sometimes surgeries are unavoidable. This is why medical professionals, even ones new to the field, are held to a high standard requiring them to be certain of their decisions before they act. In this case, it is hoped that the woman will be able to recover and even use some of her malpractice payment to attempt pregnancy another way. 

Source: theday.com, “Jury awards $1.8 million in medical malpractice case“, Karen Florin, April 20, 2016