Scenario : You are booked in for a routine medical operation, whether it be a boob job, appendix or tonsil removal, dental operation, Caesar or natural labour or any other operation/procedure. The operation seems to have gone smoothly but then you start experiencing complications which don’t feel right to you. What do you do?
Firstly, we recommend that you obtain a second opinion from an independent Doctor. You should try and inform the doctor what operation you had, how it was performed and what after effects have taken place.
Should the doctor provide an opinion that mentions something unusual occurred or happened with your operation we would suggest that further action be taken.
At this point, we would recommend that you consult with an attorney that specializes in medical negligence claims so as to verify whether or not you may have a claim for damages against the doctor/medical practitioner that operated on you or any of their operating team.
In order to have a claim, negligence would have to be proved. Simply put, the question is asked whether a reasonable doctor would have done the same thing as your operating doctor. If the answer is no and can be supported, then negligence may be able to be proved.
As we have a medical negligence claims department, we handle large volumes of medical negligence cases from big boo boos to minor slip ups. Having first-hand experience of all of these cases, it is scary to note how much negligence occurs in the medical field, both from state hospitals to private practices.
Several cases have been reported on where the victims successfully claimed damages based on medical negligence. Once such instance was where Mr. Van Ass and his son successfully sued a gynecologist, Dr. Cornelia van den Berg after she performed a hysterectomy on Mrs. van Ass in a Durbanville Medi-Clinic. Following complications in connection with the surgery, Mrs. Van Ass died in 2003. The van Ass family was awarded R1 400 000.00 (one million four hundred thousand rand) in damages. Another case was that of a couple who successfully claimed damages from a Pretoria hospital and gynecologist after their daughter was severely brain damaged at birth.
At the end of the day, there may be no amount that can sooth the errors made whether they result in death or disability of a loved one but a handsome payout may make life more comfortable for the persons concerned.
Should you require any further information on this subject feel free to contact our offices on :
011 897 1900 (tel)
076 777 1920 (afterhours)
info@tuckers.co.za (email)
Article contributed by Kenny Smith of Tuckers Inc.