Obesity Surgery Leads to Malpractice Claims
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Medical malpractice claims over obesity surgery are increasing as more and more severely obese patients turn to stomach-reducing surgeries for rapid weight loss.
A specific type of surgery, known as bariatric surgery, reduces the size of the stomach to a small pouch and limits nutritional intake to a few tablespoons at a time. These surgeries are commonly called "gastric bypass" and "stomach-stapling".
It is estimated that 73,000 of these surgeries are performed each year. The number is expected to increase.
In 2002, a jury returned a $900,000.00 verdict for the death of a Lancaster, New Hampshire patient who died seven days after undergoing stomach-stapling surgery. The claim was that the hospital failed to administer medication to the patient that he had been taking before the surgery.
In looking at these cases, lawyers have to determine whether the patient was an appropriate candidate for surgery, whether the doctor violated the standard of care in the technique of surgery, and whether the patient was monitored properly after the surgery.
Although these stomach surgeries have the potential to save a morbidly obese patient's life, they also carry a number of risks, including brain injury and death.
Individuals who are severally obese are at a high risk of developing serious conditions ranging from sleep apnea and arthritis to life threatening illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.
However, gastric bypass surgeries are dangerous in and of themselves.
As a general rule, one of the thresholds for determining whether this surgery should be performed is that the patient should have a body mass index of 40 or higher (which is roughly equivalent to being 100 pounds overweight). In addition, other criteria outlined by the National Institution of Health should also be present before surgery is performed. The surgery may be appropriate for persons with a slightly lower body mass index if they have life threatening cardiopulmonary problems or severe diabetes.
A cause of action may arise if the patients are not sufficiently informed of all of the risks of surgery before the surgery is performed.
For more information on this subject matter, please refer to our section on Medical Malpractice.