I had surgery done back in 2004 and 1 week after, ended up in the hospital for septicemia. Doctors at the time could not figure out why but now in 2009 my symptoms are back and my new doctor thinks it is caused by a surgical instrument left behind. Possibly a gauze. It has been 5 years since the surgery. If it is true and I did have a surgical instrument left behind, can I still sue even though it has been this long?
Charli
if this was true, the gauze would of absorbed into your system years ago. if an instrument was left behind, an xray will prove it, and i would contact an attorney as soon as your out of surgery (to remove the foreign object). removal would be 1st on your list, then sue.
bigmatlem
The finding of anything left behind now would start the clock now not then since your symptoms disappeared then but the discovery of what is now. So get yourself a real ambulance chaser and go for it.
SmackBack
You may be able to, consult a lawyer. Medical legal cases are incredibly mentally taxing to deal with so if you do go that route make sure you are in it for a very long drawn out multi-year process that will consume huge amounts of your time and not likely resolve the issue to your satisfaction.
But septicemia can be caused by many different things and you should definitely get to the root cause of it and don't assume the doctors are always right about it.
There is a case in the courts in Florida of a women who had a kidney stone but was misdiagnosed by a "Phone HMO doctor" who was too lazy to come in and see her and she went into a septic shock and had to have all four limbs amputated because of it.
And don't be overly hard on your doctors, work with them. The cause of septicemia can be very difficult to isolate (if it's even possible).
If you have this situation, (active bacteria in your blood), you really need to not worry about lawyers and isolate the condition and fix it, it can become very serious. If you aren't happy with the doctor(s) find others, but get the cause isolated and fixed.
Michael H
Big is dead on the money, since the issue was only known recently, your SoL begins the day you find out about it.
Contact an attorney who specializes in medmal, and see what they say
matt
Oh course you can sue! You just started feeling the pain now. Get yourself a lawyer. just call them up and let them know your story and they'll be jumping all over it.
Elle
I'd get a second opinion from a new doctor. "POSSIBLY" a gauze is not a diagnosis, or grounds for suing. Confirmation is a gauze is. Medicine is still a new science where things go wrong. People get sick and get infections from surgery.
If in fact a gauze was left behind, sure sue. that's malpractice, the doctor should have been on top of his game.
If you sue without confirmation of the gauze, and there turns out not to be one, you just pretty much wasted a lot of money in lawyer fees.
Like the other poster said, septicemia is hard to figure out the cause of. 5 years later is going to be a hard case to prove if there is no gauze.
Orignal From: Tips: Can I still sue for medical malpractice?
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