Botched Gallbladder Surgery

I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Today’s question comes from a caller concerned about problems he developed after what he was told was a routine gallbladder surgery.

He had pain and was told he needed gallbladder surgery. After the surgery was completed, he continued to have pain. He was released home, but after 24 hours, he came back to the ER.

A second surgery was required. The surgeon claimed a drain had to be put in. The pain persisted after the second surgery.

Eventually, the man went to another surgeon and discovered that he still had a partial gallbladder. The first surgeon botched the procedure.

This type of call is way too common.

Recently, an Alabama jury found a doctor was liable for a patient’s death after she experienced extreme pain following gallbladder surgery.

After the patient had surgery, she was discharged home. At home, she started feeling severe abdominal pain, despite having taken pain medication prescribed by her surgeon.

Her husband called the surgeon about his wife’s symptoms, and he was told that the pain was expected. But the pain persisted, and the husband took his wife to the surgical clinic, where the surgeon examined her.

The patient was told that abdominal pain was “normal,” and she was given pain medication to take.

But once the patient was home, her pain became worse, and an ambulance was called to take the patient to an emergency room.

At the ER, it was confirmed that the patient’s stomach was “full of bile.” The patient died a few hours later.

Unfortunately, these kinds of surgical and post-operative oversights happen, often with devastating consequences. Medical negligence claims like these are often complex and require skilled lawyers to comb through a patient’s medical records and imaging results, consult with medical expert witnesses, and draft persuasive briefs to submit to an Indiana medical review panel, before proceeding in court.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”