Personal Injury Law

Medical Malpractice Verdict - Negligent Gallbladder Removal

By Benjamin J. Sansone, Esq.

Recently, a jury handed down a decision in a Medical Negligence case in the amount of $4.08 million in damages. The medical malpractice personal injury lawsuit ensued after a patient negligently had his gallbladder removed. Three months after the negligent gallbladder removal surgery, the man was rushed to the emergency room with a high fever and in severe pain. CT scans showed that not only had a surgical sponge been left inside of him, but his gallbladder had not even been removed.

For more detail on Missouri medical malpractice related to gallbladder removal surgery (lap-choli) see this previous Missouri injury law article by by St Louis Personal Injury Attorney and Missouri medical malpractice lawyer Ben Sansone - Negligent Gallbladder Removal Missouri

After several months in the hospital and suffering from the complications of the negligent gallbladder surgery the personal injury victim accumulated several hundred thousand dollars in medical bills. Even after the medical malpractice victim was released he still suffers ongoing medical problems and symptoms from the negligent acts of the doctors.

The Defendant and accused negligent hospital argued that the man came to the hospital with prior stomach problems, and though they were willing to take responsibility of the sponges left in him, they were not willing to accept full responsibility nor agree to the amount of damages the plaintiff sought.

The negligent doctor removed a mass that was shown on the scans taken prior to the surgery; however, the mass, despite being in the same area as the gallbladder, was not the gallbladder.

As a Missouri personal injury lawyer who has handled St Louis medical malpractice lap-choli / gallbladder removal cases, I am amazed that this could happen and to me this is a situation of the doctor and the hospital staff asleep at the wheel. How could a random mass be confused with a gallbladder! The gallbladder has very distinctive anatomy, contains bile, and has very specific arteries and ducts that run to it that the surgeon must identify so that he can properly cut the bile ducts and arteries without cutting off blood supply to the liver or causing a severe infection.

Full post as published by Missouri Injury Law Blog on November 09, 2010 (boomark / email).