It can be difficult to put trust in someone. But when one’s health and quality of life rely on a medical professional, there is little choice but to trust that he will perform his job according to safety regulations. A Pennsylvania patient unfortunately came to the realization that his trust had been violated.
In 2007, the patient relied on treatment at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center when he needed to get gall bladder surgery. Though the procedure might have gone well, its overall success depends on the post-treatment as well. The patient claims that the doctor who was responsible for treating him afterwards didn’t provide him proper care.
According to the medical malpractice lawsuit, the doctor didn’t respond to reported health problems that the patient faced after the surgery, and that lack of timely medical response resulted in a further injury for the patient. He suffered from a hernia and needed various surgeries to treat the preventable health matter.
Probably the last thing that the patient wanted to deal with after one surgery was the necessity of having multiple other surgeries. Not only is it a health-risk, but operations and hospital stays are expensive. The patient didn’t believe he should foot the bill for procedures made necessary because of the negligence of his doctor.
His malpractice lawsuit against the hospital and doctor came to an end earlier this week, though it could have ended sooner if the defendants had agreed to a settlement proposed by the plaintiff and his attorney. A jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff and ordered the hospital to pay him $250,000 in damages.
While the favorable ruling for the plaintiff is likely a relief to him and his family, the impact that the medical malpractice has had on his life cannot be forgotten. Almost six years have passed since the initial gall bladder operation, and only now has the victim’s legal fight concluded.
Our Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyers help victims of different types of medical negligence, including negligent post-operative care, surgical errors and more.
Source: Penn Live, “Dauphin County jury awards $250K damages in medical malpractice case,” Matt Miller, March 11, 2013