Each day, Brevard County residents from all walks of life place a great deal of trust in Melbourne and Titusville doctors, surgeons and other medical personnel. From regular checkups to diagnoses and treatment, medical providers keep the general population up and running. But occasionally, a patient may erroneously receive a diagnosis or treatment that makes matters worse. This can be especially serious when patients receive incorrect or unnecessary surgery. Pain and suffering due to a surgeon’s error can be severe, and patients often are forced to pay for follow-up care as a result. If you’ve been injured as a result of an unnecessary surgery or other medical error in Florida, call a Melbourne surgical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible after the incident to discover your best legal options.

There are certain conditions that must be met before an unnecessary surgery can be considered a valid cause of legal action. Therefore, patients will not necessarily prevail in court if a surgeon performs a surgery due to reasonable medical concern and later discovers the surgery was not required. Several other requirements must be met, too.

Your lawyer must prove negligence

In order to constitute medical malpractice, attorneys for the recipient of the unnecessary surgery must prove the doctor acted negligently. It must also be established that the surgery caused harm. A doctor’s behavior could be considered negligent if he or she immediately performs surgery without first suggesting viable non-surgical options to the patient. A doctor’s behavior may also be deemed negligent if he or she misdiagnoses the patient and performs the surgery despite the likelihood that other doctors would not have made the misdiagnosis.

An unnecessary surgery lawsuit generally involves a third-party investigation of the patient’s records to determine whether the diagnosis and surgery were consistent with standard procedure. Patients should note that doctors may also commit malpractice if they make a mistake while performing a necessary surgery in a manner that deviates from the standard of care.

Informed consent

Prior to performing a surgery, a doctor must inform a patient of all the known risks and benefits of electing to have the procedure. Failure to do so before operating on the patient may constitute medical malpractice. A patient may also have a cause of action if the doctor causes him or her to feel pressured to undergo unnecessary surgery.

How often are surgical mistakes made?

Unnecessary surgeries are shockingly common. It is estimated that of the 48 million surgeries patients undergo annually, tens of thousands may be unnecessary. Cardiac procedures, including pacemaker implants and coronary bypass, are among the most common types of unnecessary surgeries. Hysterectomies, c-sections and procedures that address irritable bowel syndrome and heartburn also account for a substantial portion of unnecessary operations. Alarmingly, the number of unnecessary surgeries appears to be trending upward, possibly due to an increase in the number of outpatient surgery centers owned by doctors.

Seeking the help of a legal professional

Patients who believe they may have been harmed as a result of undergoing an unnecessary surgery should contact a local, trusted Titusville or Melbourne surgery malpractice lawyer. Unnecessary surgery lawsuits are extremely complex. They often require the assistance of professional third parties who have extensive knowledge of the related field of medical practice. Counsel specializing in malpractice cases can help injured patients present their case and enlists the help of the medical experts they need to prevail in court. Contacting a malpractice lawyer is risk-free, as there is no charge for a consultation.