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Operating tool results in fatal surgical errors for 2 patients

On Behalf of | Aug 9, 2017 | Surgical Errors

Delaware patients may not realize how many factors are involved when they choose to have surgery to ensure they have a successful and safe surgery. Patients often resort to trusting their physicians for most of the details involved. Despite physicians desiring the best for their patients, medical and surgical errors still occur. Two lawsuits have been filed in a nearby state against the same surgeon, hospital and a medical device company for the alleged wrongful death of two different women.

One 45-year-old patient who was a mother of three minor children underwent surgery for fibroid tumors. Her brother stated that the patient was very concerned that her fibroid tumors might be cancer, but her physician assured her that they were not. A biopsy prior to her surgery was not ordered, but pathology after her surgery revealed that the tumors were indeed cancerous. The surgeon used a tool during her operation called a power morcellator that spins at high speeds to cut through tissue. The wrongful death lawsuit filed by her family blames the morcellator for spreading cancer cells throughout her abdominal cavity accelerating her cancer.  

The same surgeon operated on a second patient with the same type of device almost a year later, and similar circumstances occurred. After the surgery, the 42-year-old mother’s cancer spread rapidly and she sadly died as well. Her lawsuit alleges that after the other patient’s case, the surgeon should have been aware of the risks that could result when using the morcellator. Not long after both of the surgeries, the FDA required companies that made morcellators to issue a black box warning to alert doctors of the risks, and the FDA no longer recommended its use for most women.

When any patient becomes a victim of any type of surgical errors, it can be overwhelming to handle the physical and financial repercussions. Errors often result in unexpected additional expensive medical treatment, therapy, and funeral expenses for deceased victims. Delaware medical malpractice attorneys are able to advise families who fear their loved one’s death was due to the negligence of a medical provider regarding their legal options to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Source: northjersey.com, “Medical device lawsuit names The Valley Hospital, surgeons“, Lindy Washburn, July 27, 2017

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