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Champaign, IL
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Posted about 1 month ago in Medical Malpractice
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My dad recently had open heart surgery. He had a breathing tube in for approximately 16 hours after surgery. When it was removed, he was forced to eat a liquid diet. He choked because he was unable to swallow correctly. The fluid went down into his lungs. The hospital provided therapy (speech) to teach him how to swallow again. He was released from the hospital and is still being provided with speech therapy. He is still having problems with swallowing solid foods. I am concerned about any long term problems with this. The hospital did not admit to any wrong doing, of course. However the therapist may have talked with my dad about the reasons for the problems. Just curious if he has any recourse. Thanks for your time.
Answers (1)
L. Maxwell Taylor
This attorney is licensed in California and 1 other state.
Posted about 1 month ago.
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Medical malpractice is a type of negligence that applies to medical professionals. In every medical malpractice case the plaintiff must prove more likely than not that the medical professional breached the standard of care of the average practitioner, and that this breach of the standard of care proximately caused the plaintiff's damages.
I read that your dad choked because he couldn't swallow correctly. I don't read that this happened because a medical professional violated the standard of care. Your questions about whether the standard of care were violated should be directed towards physicians, not lawyers. If there was malpractice, your dad would need to hire a medical professional who would testify that the conduct in respect of your father's breathing tubes violated the standard of care and caused damages. Even if you can find such a person, you should know it will cost multiple thousands of dollars to have the case evaluated and for the doctor to testify. Please know also that a bad result doesn't mean there was malpractice. Plenty of times bad results happen without malpractice. I'm not licensed to practice law in Illinois so don't take that as legal advice. It's simply information based on general principles of law which is intended to educate. If you need legal advice, please consult a lawyer who holds Illinois licensure. Good luck. |
