Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Follows Surgery On Wrong Baby

On behalf of Hastings Law Firm posted in Texas Lawyer for Surgical Injuries on Wednesday, February 24, 2016.

When inadequate medical care causes injury to a Texas patient, the victim — or, in some instances — his or her family — can take legal action. Medical malpractice lawsuits typically result from cases in which medical care falls below accepted medical community standards, and can be filed against doctors, nurses, hospitals or other providers of health care. Although precautions are typically taken to prevent surgeons from performing surgery on a wrong body part, a recently filed lawsuit in another state involves a surgery performed on the wrong baby.

According to the lawsuit, a mother of a baby thought her child was being taken from her for a routine examination on the day following his birth. Instead, he was mistaken for another baby. He was taken for a surgical procedure, referred to as a frenectomy, to remove a band of muscle tissue tying the tongue to the floor of the mouth. Babies who have this malformation typically struggle to nurse, and clipping the tissue removes the restriction of the tongue. When the nurse reassured the mother after the procedure that nursing will no longer be a problem, she learned of the unnecessary procedure that was performed on her child.

Naturally, the parents of the child were outraged when the baby was returned to them with a bleeding mouth. The surgeon apparently admitted his mistake and apologized to the parents. They contend that the defendant claimed that the baby experienced only slight discomfort and suffered no serious harm.

Any Texas resident who suffers the consequences of a surgical error is entitled to pursue claims for financial relief for the losses sustained. With their main law offices in Houston Texas, the Hastings Law Firm have represented 100s of failure to diagnose victims across Texas and have earned the distinction of being one of the best medical malpractice lawyers in Texas. However, victims must be able to prove that the the health care provider was negligent and that the negligence was the proximate cause of the victim’s injuries. Medical malpractice is a complex area of the law, and for this reason, many victims choose to utilize the services of experienced medical malpractice attorneys to represent them.

Source: worldtechtoday.com, “Doctor in Tennessee hospital performs surgery on wrong baby”, Beth Balen, Feb. 13, 2016