AboutGlenn A. Dorfman Expertise Twenty-four years experience in personal injury, medical malpractice and medical product liability law. Practice currently concentrated on the diet drug (fen-phen) litigation. Qualified to answer all questions regarding injuries and the law, except for worker`s compensation.
Question hello about 2 months ago i severed the tendon in my right hand that extends my index finger. the orthopaedic surgeon came to the ER and repaired at that day. as soon as she repaired it she had me try and move my finger thus causing the repair to fail. So she repaired the tendon again and stitched my hand up. well i have been doing everything exactly how i have been supposed to wearing my splint, i have been unable to work, going to all my scheduled physical therapy visits. well i have been unable to bend or extend the finger which prompted the physical therapist to get ahold of the surgeon and they both thought the repair had failed again. so they sent me to get an MRI which revealed that their assumptions were true. so now i have to miss work for a much longer period of time accrue even more medical costs and my life has been pretty much put on hold because theres not much i can do with out the use of my right hand. would this be considered malpractice or just a case of bad luck??
Answer Probably just bad luck. Assuming the surgeon is a board certified orthopedic surgeon, with perhaps a speciality in hand surgery, chances are the surgery was done by the book but something about your anatomy made it more difficult. Maybe you have thin tendons, whatever. Of course it could be that the surgery was done incorrectly but here is the bottom line. Unless you end up with a permanent problem, which I hope is not the case, whether there was negligent surgery or not doesn't matter because the damages won't be high enough to make a malpractice suit worth pursuing, at least from the lawyers point of view. Good luck. If you do have a permanent disability after a third surgery, contact a local med mal attorney.
