I recently severly damage my finger working on a car. To the point that it was crushed and wide open down to my tendon in my pointer finger. i went to the ER and they were unable to stitch it up due to the fact that basically a couple pieces of my skin were missing. They referred me to a hand specialist/plastic surgeon who was in turn supposed to e the best around the area. I went to him, with no insurance, paying 250$ up front for a consultation, just for him to look at my finger for 20 seconds and say yes, you need surgery. he drew up the paperwork and explained that the REASON i needed surgery was because I needed a skin graft to place a piece of skin over the open wound since it could not be closed. The next day I go to surgery, now mind you I had to pay $ 3500 UP FRONT for the surgery which was considered a discounted price. I was in surgery for all of 30 minutes, which they said the actual procedure time was 15 minutes. I came out and never got to see the dr, just the nurse who told me that I didn't need a skin graft, that he made an insision and pulled it to stitch it up. In my opinion, that's something that could've been done undder local anethestic. Over the next few days, i was in severe pain which he gave me pain meds.. but just enough for 2 days. After that I tried motrin as dr ordered. NOTHING helped. Had to beg him for something more for pain. The pain has since died down but it is still very sore. The stiches have "popped" out. I am doing as ordered, keeping dry and cleaning once a day with peroxide and then applying patroleom jelly to keep from sticking to the guaze. My insicion looks really back and is now "cracking" where the insicion was made. it's pulling apart because it was too tight without that extra skin and my skin is really dry from the peroxide. i've tried lotion and everything. I feel that the dr should've done the skin graft as i was told the morning of the surgery. When i attemped to get a partial refund since the skin graft was not done, i was rudely told by the manager of the office that i was already discounted and i was not owed any money. Her words were "well he fixed your finger didn't he?" Does any one think i have a chance at a law suit? I have been taking pictures through out the progression of the finger and its condition
Little Polish Princess
It wouldn't hurt to call a lawyer. You can sue over anything. I don't believe in suing though, just my personal preference.
gubeedal
At the moment, no you do not.$ 3500 is a very very cheap price for surgery. (I had a routine procedure that took 25 minutes and before insurance it was 14,000.) The doctor will always try the easiest way to close something before a skin graft. If you are concerned, talk to you doctor about it, they may give you antibiotics (if they haven't already)
Your surgical site will be in pain for awhile. Over a month after my routine surgery it was still sore once in awhile. I'm not sure which state you live in, but there is what is called a "statute of limitations" for medical malpractice cases. In Illinois it is 2 years from the date of injury. If you have a lasting injury from this surgery a year from now, I would suggest filing a suit, but as of right now there is really nothing you can do (legal-wise... follow up with your doc! or get a second opinion!!!)
AdL
I very seriously doubt it. You would need to prove that detrimental harm was caused by the physician that performed the procedure. Extremely difficult to prove, especially given the extent of damage you describe having been inflicted by the injury in the first place. Plastic surgeons are expensive and you have no prior experience with this injury to realistically compare the price for the same service. If you feel that there is a problem resulting from the procedure, either go back and have the doctor fix it, or go get a second opinion. If you want a second opinion about my answer, try posting in the legal section.
Orignal From: Do I have grounds for a medical malpractice suit?
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