We are investigating a claim right now involving a Fredericksburg, Virginia orthopedist who:

1. decided to do an operation to remove a small lipoma on the back of our client’s shoulder;
2. once the surgery started he couldn’t figure out whether he was supposed to be operating on the front or the back;
3. he thought about canceling the surgery because he couldn’t figure it out and, since the patient was already anesthetized, he couldn’t ask her;
4. he decided against canceling the surgery and, instead relied on his “memory” of what the MRI said (he was wrong and the report telling him he was wrong was right in the file);
5. He then went and got the MRI, but misread it;
6. He went ahead and operated on the wrong side of the shoulder and when he couldn’t find the lipoma he get digging deeper and deeper;
7. He finished the operation and never did what he was supposed to do.

The patient ended up with one unnecessary surgery, lots of bruising, unnecessary scarring and needing additional care in the form of physical therapy;

(By the way, all of the above comes from the doctor’s own notes, not anything we are “guessing” about.)

The next day, during an office visit, he apologized to the patient, admitted he was wrong and offered to do the right surgery when he got back from vacation (which he was leaving for the next week.) –she’s no fool, though…what he did was very, very dangerous and she opted to have the lipoma removed later by a general surgeon (why was an orthopedic surgeon removing a lipoma anyway?)

This young lady did everything right. She made a very reasonable proposal to the doctor’s insurance company.

How–you say–could they possibly deny this claim.

They did. In a terse letter that explained nothing, the doctor’s insurance, company, (one that prides itself on taking every single case all the way through trial) said “we didn’t do anything wrong.”

The next time you see anyone writing anything about tort reform and plaintiff’s lawyers and “opportunistic patients” please drive them to this blog and get them to comment. I’d love to hear what they have to say about this.

By the way, we’ll release the name of this doctor once we file the case. We’ll also be filing a complaint with the Virginia Board of Medicine.. Again, by this doctor’s own words, he engaged in a very, very dangerous activity by starting a surgery he knew he should have canceled.

Virginia medical malpractice cases often go to trial, unlike civil lawsuits that are typically settled outside of court.  In Virginia, there is a cap on medical malpractice damages, which protects insurance companies.  Insurers are able to calculate the worst case scenario for their losses and they know that if there are multiple defendants included in the lawsuit, they will split the total loss, if they are found guilty.  For insurance companies, going to trial actually reduces their risk.

Don’t underestimate the amount of money that insurance companies are willing to spend to defend cases.  Insurance companies basically have an unlimited budget that gives them the ability to “shop” for expert witnesses.  They will utilize testimonies from experts that can vouch for the care provided by their doctors.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are more challenging than most people realize.  Doctors usually will not say anything negative about another doctor in public.  That means that even if a physician says that the other doctor made a mistake, there is a good chance that he or she will not say it at trial or during a deposition.  Insurers place enormous pressure on doctors who say something negative about another medical professional.  They sometimes find themselves shunned at medical meetings and have trouble obtaining insurance.  There have been cases where professional ethics charges were brought against doctors who testified on behalf of patients.

If you have been injured by medical malpractice, your case will most likely go to trial and will require an extensive amount of hours and expenses.