Is this a medical malpractice suit??????

My father-in-law had a triple bi-pass surgery a few days ago. An x-ray revealed that a sponge had been left inside his chest. The doctor who made this horrendous mistake admitted to doing so. My father-in-law had to have his chest openend up again to have the sponge removed. So far he is doing ok, however this is unacceptable medical practice in my opinion. Would this be grounds for a lawsuit? I spoke to a paralegal who said that it is NOT because the dr. admitted that he did it. We definitley want to pursue legal action. Where do we stand with such a case??

This is why you do not ask paralegals for legal advice.

It is malpractice as it was negligent and far below the standard of care owed by a doctor to a patient. The doctor acknowledged the negligence, but that doesn't wipe it out.

The question is: what are the damages that resulted from the mistake? Obviously, the additional surgery caused more pain and sufferering and delays in dad's recovery. It may cost more actual money as well.

Sounds like your father-in-law has a case. The rest of the "we" in your question have no case, no standing.

You ought to feel lucky your father-in-law is still alive. Seems like everyday at least one person is on this site wanting to sue someone.

Back to your question-----I think only your father-in-law would be able to file a suit, since he was the one that was wronged.

Yes it is..contact a lawyer..so if a doctor admitted that he had killed someone should he not get in trouble?

While I would seek the advice of a local attorney, from your description the most your father could recover is capped by law.

Under the Florida Patient Compensation Fund statute, hospitals are required to participate in the fund by paying a yearly fee and obtaining primary insurance (or otherwise demonstrating financial responsibility) of $250,000 per claim or $500,000 per occurrence (which is indexed for inflation after January 1, 1990).

Hospitals operated by units of government or meeting certain financial responsibility requirements ($2,500,000 of insurance coverage) are exempt. These "entry level" amounts also apply to physicians who choose to participate in the fund. The fund then affords coverage to its participants, other than hospitals, of either $1,000,000 per claim with a $3,000,000 annual aggregate, or $2,000,000 per claim with a $4,000,000 aggregate. (These limits include the entry limit amounts.) A hospital's limits under the fund are $2,500,000 per claim with no annual aggregate (entry level limits included).

A participating health care provider still remains liable for damages in excess of the fund's coverage and for punitive damages.The entry level insurer is responsible for providing a defense.

as to puntative damages, the florida cap is three times the level of compensatory damages.

AS FOR RAICHASA'S assertion that it WAS malpractice, that is for a court to determine, NOT an attorney, NOT a law clerk and NOT a poster on this forum.

You should file a complaint with the hospital's Risk Management Department. Most likely the hospital and/or doctor will settle on an amount if you threaten to take them to court. Trust me, the physician and hospital would rather pay you a settlement or pay for medical expenses than go through a trial. Remember, mistakes do happen...it's impossible to eliminate human error completely from a medical situation. Your father-in-law is lucky that the mistake was found and that it was treated quickly.

If you are really serious, take it to a lawyer and not a paralegal.

But consider the following:

Doctors are human and occassionally make mistakes. He admitted the mistake and it was rectified. Unless he has a record of this kind of issue you're going to punish a good doctor for having a bad day. Obviously, there was some risk to your father-in-law, but so far all is well so there is no permanent damage to compensate for.

The expense of a court case is more than the money. It will mean dragging family members to depositions and subjecting them to questioning by insurance company lawyers. That's a lot of stress to put on someone who had a triple bypass.

The settlement you will get if you do proceed may not be worth the stress and inconvenience you've already been through. The only ones that will benefit will be the lawyers.