Books & Resources
For more information on amputations, the following resources are available:
Each year botched amputations affect people all across the country. The experience can be traumatic and emotional for the patient and their loved ones. An already trying experience turns tragic when medical negligence is involved. Amputations can be performed for a variety of reasons including, gangrene, infection, diabetes, delayed treatment, nursing home neglect, defective medications, other diseases including cancer, or a traumatic injury.
When someone has a medical condition that requires amputation, there are a variety of emotions that person will experience and the choice of amputation will not be an easy one to make. Living without a limb is a difficult and permanent choice that will forever change a person’s life, as he or she will have to relearn skills, and adjust to living with a disability.
When amputation errors occur, which happens far more frequently than they should, a difficult situation is exacerbated. The patient is forced to undergo additional surgery to remove the dangerous limb, and then must learn to live in a far more disabled state than their original prognosis.
Amputees have a variety of needs following surgery and they may require expensive equipment and specialists. Prosthetics are artificial limbs that are continuously evolving and improving. What used to closely resemble a rubber stump is now a much more life-like extension that in some cases can be programmed and manipulated to closely mirror the functioning of the original limb. Amputees typically require rehabilitation, regardless of which limb was amputated. Long-term physical therapy will teach the patient to learn and re-learn movement, skills, and tasks, with the goal of achieving the highest functioning possible. Rehabilitation can be a painful, slow, and expensive process.
As implausible as amputation errors sound, they do occur and it is important to not only hold the responsible party accountable, but also award damages to the injured party for the cost of extensive medical care, loss of wages, as well as pain and suffering. If you or a loved one has been affected by an amputation that was the result of medical negligence, our medical malpractice lawyers may be able to help you recover compensation. Contact the Law Offices of Wais, Vogelstein, and Bedigian for a free consultation.