Personal Injury Law

Father Files Lawsuit Claiming he Never Gave Consent for Son?s Surgery

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

A father has filed a $19 million medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital and two doctors, claiming that he never consented to his son?s surgery. This surgery ended with his sixth month old son having permanent brain damage. Originally, the father was told that it was a minor small surgery shortly after his son was transferred to a new hospital. He was only warned that a small infection could be a complication, and this would be treated with antibiotics. However, the victim?s father still said he refused consent. Despite this answer, the doctors still operated on the young boy, leaving him brain damaged.

Hospital officials are stating that the father gave verbal consent, yet investigators have not found any hospital documentation to support this assertion. Furthermore, the baby was scheduled for morning surgery, yet doctors postponed it until later in the afternoon citing an inability to obtain consent. When the father refused, the doctor told him to return to the hospital for further discussion. Still the father is claiming that he refused surgery because he was nervous about the procedure?s use of anesthesia. He also was not offered a Spanish interpreter, despite the fact that he only speaks Spanish. Following the surgery, the baby had become dependent on a ventilator and feeding tube. He had entered the hospital on a nasal breathing tube. The father believes that this is due to his son?s reaction to anesthesia. His son?s nursing care now costs costs $1,100 a month. To read more about the consent lawsuit, please click the link.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on April 28, 2010 (boomark / email).