Severe Infection After Biopsy

My question involves medical malpractice in the state of: Ohio

Sorry for the long post.

My OB GYN asked me to come back in a week for a biopsy of the uterus to check for and possible cancer. He said I was not a candidate for a hysterectomy unless there was cancer found.

I fully explained that I have a heart murmur and need to take antibiotics before anything can be done like this.

He explained it was not needed for this simple procedure and for me not to worry about it.

I showed up for the biopsy as scheduled on Tuesday. I asked the nurse again to make sure that I did not need antibiotics and she said I did not need them.

He tried several times to get a biopsy and of course the pain was horrific because so sedative was used at all. After many times of trying he said there was just to much scar tissue for him to get a decent sample and told me that he could not get the sample this way.

Two days later I had a 101 degree temperature and was sick. My husband called his office to explain to them my condition and they told him that he needed to be aware that pain and some fever may be common for this. They told him to give me 4 motrin every 4 hours to relieve the pain.

The next morning my temp reached 102 and my husband called them again and the nurse told him that the doctor was in surgery and he would call us back after surgery or a nurse would. My husband called again around 1 pm and they said he is not back from surgery and when he gets back they would see what he wanted us to do.

Not one phone call from that office that day. My husband is telling me I need to go to the ER and bypass him for now that they will have to call him.

I told him I would be ok and we should wait to see if he calls.
No calls all night and none in the morning. So I called them myself and the nurse told me he must have forgot or did not get his note on calling you.

That if you are having those symptoms that I needed to go to the ER and to not wait any longer.

I told her we have been calling you for two days and why didnt you tell us two days ago do to this? She said because the doctor normally makes those calls and that we did not understand that you were this bad that you husband must not have explained it well.

Then tried to blame me for not going to the ER.

This was Friday and my husband took me to the ER.

The ER doctor after several test tells my husband she has a large 4x7 mass on her stomach and the need to do more testing that your wifes doctor has been contacted.

5 am in the morning on Saturday the next ER doctor tells me that we need to admit you because we are worried that you might go septic because this is a large puss bag full of infection and we need to get you upstairs and prepared for it to be removed asap.

I was taken to a room on Saturday morning. Sunday morning comes and my doctor shows up early and tells me that have a large infection that appears to be attached to my uterus and it needs to be removed, but he wants a surgeon to remove it as it is in the stomach area.

Monday comes and no surgeon yet, my niece overhears my doctor and a surgeon arguing over why this mass has been left in her stomach for almost a week and it has not been removed!!

My doctor then tells me they are trying to find a surgeon to do the removal and they will get it done asap.

Tuesday morning comes, 103 temps and I am not doing well. A surgeon walks in the room and explains to me and my husband with my 9 year old sitting there that is was very dangerous and it needs to be removed right now, the nurses are going to prep you and we are going to surgery asap.

He tells us that if this goes septic that you could die and we need to get this done right now. In front of my 9 year old I might add!

My husband asked him why did they wait so long, his answer was that he needed to ask my doctor that questions because he was just called.

My husband asked him if waiting like this was dangerous and he said yes, it was very dangerous and risky not to get it removed many days ago.

Surgery lasted a couple hours and my OB GYN comes out to tell my husband and family that she did fine and we really need to go ahead and do that hysterectomy right now while we have her in there. My husband told him no, that is not my decision unless it is life threatening and that you just told her she was not a candidate for it so why now is she? He said ok then we need to set up an appointment to talk this over soon.

Surgeon came out and said I was doing fine and that he removed the mass which was a large 4-7 bag of infection. Husband asked him what caused this and the doctor replied the biopsy at the doctors office caused this and that he found 11 poke holes in my uterus from the attempted biopsy.

He told my husband and my family that I was lucky that I came in when I did because I might not have lasted another day with this being so infectious and the possibility of it going septic.

I was in the hospital for 3 more days with antibiotics poured into me to protect me. The surgeon made all the calls from then on, my OB GYN came in each morning. The last morning my husband asked him what caused this and he said it was probably the attempt to get a biopsy but you wife was aware of possibility of infection during any type of biopsy. My husband came unglued and told him that she asked you two times to take antibiotics and you told her she did not need them. He replied by stating that antibiotics would not have keep this from happening and walked out the door.

A week later the OB GYN calls me on the phone himself to ask me if I wanted to discuss a hysterectomy. I told him no if I did not need it before why would I need it now, he said to make sure this never happens again. I have been with him 15 years and never known him to call anyone personally.

2 months later I have yet to receive a single bill from him. Not for the office visits, not for the biopsy, not for the hospital care, nothing, not one single bill from him.

I followed up with my family doctor and she told me the records show it was caused by him poking holes into my uterus and the bacteria set in a cause this.

I called his office to ask for a complete and full copy of my records and to get the results of the biopsy. The nurse said they could not get the biopsy remember so there wont be any results. I asked her then why did he not get the sample he needed when he was in the surgery room with the surgeon that day? She said I do not know.

My medical bills are now well over 60,000.00, I have 80-20 insurance and most of them are demanding payment in full of the 20%.

I do not feel these are my bills as he was negligent in my care in many ways and should pay these bills for his mistakes he made and the lack of quality care and for not returning days of phone calls when I was sick.

I had to carry around a drain tube for more then a week after this which was terrible.

I have now bled and spotted for 55 straight days from this and have massive cramping and pain. I have to wait two more weeks to get into my new OB GYN and my family doctor has prescribed pain meds but I do not want to take them unless I have to.

My life was changed since that day, I was so sick I thought I was going to die in front of my husband and my 9 year old. I told my husband if I do not make it please make sure you find out why this happened.

I still have nightmares from it, waking up several times a night crying from those awful days. My side and belly hurt all day every day,my 9 year old still today talks about hearing that doctor. My husband not only had 3 kids to take care of while I was in the hospital but did not want to leave me at the hospital all alone. My mother has cancer and she missed several of her treatments as I was the one who took her every time.

This man caused all of this and I firmly feel he did wrong and was totally negligent with me and my care.

Please let me know what I should do from here? I cannot pay these bills he caused to happen and the nightmares continue. My family doctor wants to put me on a small sedative for post traumatic stress and I refused them.

Any ideas would surely be appreciated as to how I can get my medical bills paid.

Thank you!

Listen to your Family Physician's recommendations. He's there to help you through this.

Speak with a med/mal attorney. S/he will make sure they obtain all of your medical records, including biopsy and surgical reports, and records from all the Physisican who treated you. S/he will then have those records reviewed by an medical expert.

Good luck.

Thank you.

I did not know if this warranted talking to a Med/Mal attorney or not.

I have spoken to two people this morning. One the surgeon who removed the infection and my aunt who is a nurse.

I spoke with the surgeon to (I have a follow up with him on coming up soon) ask him if this could have been prevented with the antibiotics and he said yes and told me no invasion of the body like this should go without antibiotics.

I asked him if the 11 poke holes were the cause of the infection and he said yes. I asked him if this was as serious as we thought it was and he said yes, you could have went septic and passed away.

I asked him if this doctor was negligent in my care and he said he would not answer that question at this time but he could tell me that is could have been prevented and it was caused by him poking a hole into my uterous.
He said if he is needed for anything to please contact him.

So now I have another doctor who appears to be willing to testify against my OB GYN for this issue.

I spoke with my aunt early this morning who has been a LPN for 28 years at this same hospital who told me this is a malpractice lawsuit for not just the neglect but has many other areas of malpractice from start to finish.

She stated that this OB GYN's nurses who did not pass along the urgency of this situation to the doctor from that start are his responsibility and that was the start of many malpractice issues in this case.

More importantly the not having me on antibiotics when I needed them for the biopsy and letting me sit for 6 days with a large mass of infection in my stomach while he was trying to find a surgeon to remove it. She found out through channels at the hospital that no surgeon wanted to touch it once they knew the problem. That is why the delay in removing it we believe.

She also stated that by him not sending me a single bill for any of his work is a sign of guilt.

My aunt told me she looked up his records to only find out that he has had 8 malpractice lawsuits in 2008 and all but one were settled out of court.

She forgot to tell me how she looked them up and is now at work. Can someone point me the right direction to find lawsuits against doctors? The local court does not have any info other then the case dates and names.

Lea thank you for your posting, it makes me feel a ton better that I am not doing anything wrong and that I need to surely rely on my family doctor.

Your input is appreciated as I spent time reading through back post and see you are very helpful to others.

Update:

Spoke with a para legal at a malpractice attorneys office and this what she said.

( No, I do not believe she is correct )

She said that it would be hard to prove the doctor was negligent in any way and that the nurse working for him may have not passed on the information so he possibly would not have known.
Isn't he responsible for his nursing staff and if they are negligent like this it is still in his hands?

1. Multiples holes in my uterus.
2. 9 days with a 4 x 7 abcess in my stomach after he was aware of the situation after calling his office for 4 days asking what to do with zero response from them.
3. Did not give me antibiotics knowing I had a heart murmur and take antibiotics to even have my teeth cleaned.
4. Still as of today has not sent me any results of what biopsy he may have got and failed to even get one while in surgery when he had the chance.

Another physican telling me this was caused by him not administering antibiotics for this procedure and going to far with forcing multiple holes in my uterus.

This doctor telling me personally it was his fault and apologizing for it.

What do you think?

I think you should find and talk to a lawyer who specializes in medical cases.

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I think you should find and talk to a lawyer who specializes in medical cases.

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This was a medical malpractice attorneys office, they run you through a paralegal first to see if the case warrants a meeting.

Guess I am stunned to think this would not be negligence on his part.

He has more then 20 lawsuits in the last two years and I cannot find information on if he won or lost them. Most do state they were settled out of court.

Does anyone know a website I can find out more information on lawsuits on a doctor please?

Thanks everyone.

first thing you need to understand;

a biopsy is intentionally poking a needle into the tissue being biopsied so, it is typical, normal, and expected to discover holes from an attempted biopsy. Not finding punctures would be more surprising. I do not see how the other doctor could state the punctures were not typical.

as to the antibiotics;

infections are a known complication of any biopsy. After all, they are poking holes in you which surely exposes you to infections so in itself, an infection would not be actionable.

Now, if the standards of care are that antibiotics are recommended pre procedure and did the lack of administering them allow the situation to happen;

I don't know. There are a few here that are more knowledgeable about the standards of care. The lack of antibiotics surely could have added to the degree of infection but as to they are required or even recommended pre procedure, again, I don't know.

Now, did his actions once notified cause the situation to worsen and cause you greater injury? Very likely and yes, he is responsible for his nursing staff notifying or not notifying him of things such as this.

So, I would suggest contacting another med mal attorney. You may have a case but most of it not from what you seem to be pointing at most of the time (the holes in your uterus).

as to help with the costs:

I do not know your financial situation (and don't really want to know either) so I can only suggest a few things.

Hospitals often have charity assistance. Speak with the billing department to see. Also, again, not knowing your financial status; medicare may be worth investigating.

as to the ; why didn't you take a biopsy while in surgery?

because the doctor performing the surgery was dealing with the abscess. His concern was not the biopsy. In fact, he may not have known anything about it. Yes, it could have easily been accomplished but they generally do not combine procedures unless they are associated and the removal of the abscess was not associated with the need for the biopsy.

The ironic thing is when I had one of my babies he called in an internal medicine specialist to take care of me because my blood pressure went out the roof and he told me I needed an internal medicine specialist to get me out of trouble with the blood pressure problems caused by the heart murmur.

The last biopsy he did he had me take 7 days of antibiotics before he did the biopsy, this time he did not.

He suggested this doctor because he has a background in heart diseases and with the murmur he would be the prefect fit for me.

That same internal medicine specialist is now my family doctor.

As you stated the infection is a known complication of a biopsy therefore this doctor failed to protect me knowing of my murmur years in advance.

I agree, he left me hanging for more then a week with an abcess which is probably the most neglectful thing he did other then failing to treat me with antibiotics knowing full well I needed them before any procedure.

I also think having the other doctor on my side is a big help.

I am going to call another attorney on Monday.

1 Heart murmurs do not cause high blood pressure. If you had high blood pressure during childbirth, you were most likely eclamptic, which has nothing to do with heart murmurs.

2 Doctors used to give anyone with a heart murmur antibiotic medicines before a dental or surgical procedure to prevent infection in your heart valves (not anywhere else). Today, most doctors believe that patients with a heart murmur do not need to take antibiotics before a dental or surgical procedure, unless the murmur is caused by intrinsic valve disease. Routine prophylactic administration of antibiotics is falling out of favor, due to the appearance of resistant strains.

3 A murmur does not predispose you to abdominal infections.

Hi, sorry this happened to you.

It's very likely that the antibiotics you requested at the time of the procedure would not have prevented this.

Antibiotics are given to people with certain types of significant heart disease to prevent infection within the heart that might occur as a result of bacteria entering the bloodstream at the time of the procedure.

Your infection had nothing to do with the heart and likely progressed hours or days after the procedure. The antibiotics wouldn't have even still been in your system.

If you had gotten antibiotics, you would still have gotten sick, just several hours or a day later.