Every type of surgery has certain types of complications that can arise in relation to it. It is very important for doctors here in New Jersey, in the period following the performance of a surgery on a patient, to keep an eye out for signs of known potential complications of the surgery. If a doctor fails to timely diagnose a surgical complication a patient develops, it can sometimes have as severe of consequences as the death of the patient.
Recently, a wrongful death case involving an alleged surgical complication has come up in another state, Colorado.
On Nov. 6, 2012, a man underwent a surgery that was aimed at repairing a ruptured knee tendon, according to the man’s mother. The man died about a month and a half after the surgery. The man’s mother says that, the day prior to the death, the man had been seen by the doctor who had performed the surgery and was told by the doctor to remove a leg cast (the cast had been put on the man about a half-month after the surgery) at home.
According to the man’s mother, deep vein thrombosis was the cause of the man’s death. She claims that the doctor should have known that deep vein thrombosis was one of the complications the man could develop from the surgery and that the doctor was negligent in failing to spot this medical problem and in telling the man to take the cast off at home.
In relation to these allegations, the man’s mother is suing the doctor.
One could imagine how crushing it would be to have a loved one die of an undiagnosed complication after a seemingly successful surgery. When an undiagnosed surgical complication claims a person’s life, one of the things it can be important to look into is whether the surgical complication should have been caught. Medical malpractice attorneys can investigate the circumstances surrounding a death related to a surgical complication and can help families of victims pursue appropriate legal action when it appears that medical negligence contributed to the death.
Source: The Aspen Times, “Mother sues Basalt doctor for son’s wrongful death,” Rick Carroll, April 18, 2014
