Ohio readers may be interested in a case of medical malpractice that took place in another state. It was recently reported that a family was awarded $2 million that is pending legislature approval.A state claims commission already determined that doctors at a medical facility were negligent during a patient’s surgery. The surgical mistakes took place during a 2004 procedure on the brain of a 15-year-old boy.
Reportedly, the boy underwent surgery due to a seizure disorder. The surgery was supposed to involve removing a lesion from the right side of the boy’s brain. However, during the procedure, the doctor began operating on the left side of the patient’s brain, and mistakenly removed a different portion of his brain. Realizing his mistake, the doctor began operating on the right side of the brain.
Though a piece of the boy’s brain was removed in error, the doctor did not tell the patient’s parents. Rather, he simply told them that the procedure had been started on the wrong section of brain but was corrected before any damage had occurred. The family eventually found out about the error after the boy had an MRI scan. They filed a medical malpractice claim against the doctor and medical facility, which proved successful. They received a settlement of $1 million.
Dealing with the aftermath of serious surgical mistakes can be difficult for the affected patients and their families. If Ohio residents believe that they or their loved ones have been victims of such errors, they may wish to consider filing medical malpractice claims of their own. Information on taking such action could help interested parties better understand their options.
Source: outpatientsurgery.net, “Surgeon Operated on Wrong Part of Brain“, Nov. 24, 2015