Medical Malpractice Lawyer Serving Vermont

If a foreign object, something that was supposed to be removed during surgery, is left in a patient’s body, that constitutes medical malpractice. There are protocols designed to prevent this from occurring, but this still happens more than it should. The amount of damage caused by that foreign body usually dictates whether or not a malpractice case should be pursued. If you have suffered as a result of a foreign body being left in you, an experienced medical malpractice attorney should be consulted as soon as possible.

Retention of a foreign body after a surgery or other procedure are included in the category of “Never Events” or “Serious Reportable Events (SRE)” These incidents are categorized as such because they should simply never happen. Such a designation means that the consequences are easily avoided by surgeons and other participants in the surgery simply by following established protocols designed to prevent just such medical incidents.

Sometimes, a foreign body left inside a patient’s body may not be discovered for years after it was left in there. Vermont’s medical malpractice statutes, as to when these claims can be brought, extend the usual three-year statute of limitations period under those circumstances to seven years. Accordingly, just because it has been more than three years since the foreign body was improperly left inside, there would still be time to file a medical malpractice case. In circumstances where the doctor deliberately withheld or prevented the patient from learning about the foreign body, the time to bring a malpractice case might be extended indefinitely.

David has successfully handled medical malpractice cases involving foreign objects.