Unnecessary Surgeries Lead to Malpractice Claims

We all assume that our doctors would not prescribe unnecessary drugs or perform unnecessary surgeries.  But doctors are human, and doctors know that they make more money from surgeries than office visits.  If an unscrupulous doctor performs an unneeded surgery for personal gain, the doctor commits medical malpractice, just as if the doctor botched a simple surgical procedure. A recent lawsuit in Kentucky alleges that an entire cardiology group has engaged in exactly this type of unethical behavior.  Over 400 plaintiffs have joined the suit against 11 cardiologists and their hospital, claiming that the doctors “conspired to perform unnecessary, risky and often painful heart procedures to unjustly enrich themselves.” While the medical malpractice lawyers at Powers Taylor have never encountered a broad conspiracy to perform unnecessary surgeries in Texas, we handle individual cases where doctors perform unneeded surgeries.  Whether these unnecessary surgeries are motivated by the physician’s greed, or the result of a misdiagnosis, the patient suffers through pain and physical damage that should have never occurred. In one of Powers Taylor’s recent medical malpractice cases, our client went to a Denton County hospital complaining of heaviness in her chest and shortness of breath.  The doctors told her that she needed emergency triple bypass surgery.  When she requested to be transported to another facility for a second opinion, the doctors said that she would not survive the transfer, and insisted on performing the triple bypass surgery.  Eighteen months later, all three of the bypasses failed, and the same surgeons wanted to perform another triple bypass.  When Powers Taylor’s client finally obtained the second opinion that had been originally denied, she learned that she did not have cardiovascular disease, that she only had minimal blockage in the arteries, and that the initial surgery had been unnecessary. If you suspect that a doctor has subjected you to unnecessary surgery or invasive medical procedures, you should contact the Texas medical malpractice attorneys at Powers Taylor LLP.  Doctors who place their patients at risk when it is not medically required need to be held responsible for their actions.